George F Lewis

The Papacy and Anglican Orders George F Lewis

This is from the Anglican viewpoint, not the Catholic viewpoint. Anglicans along with other groups claim 'Apostolic Succession', which they believe is sufficient to provide authority in the Church. The question of the validity of Anglican Orders has been raised by the Roman Catholic Church. Its Papacy charges that Anglican bishops and priests have not been validly ordained and hence are not true ministers of the Catholic Church. We Anglicans must challenge this affront to our integrity. An obvious test of a person's regard for the truth is his readiness to acknowledge his error, even when the truth may hurt. The author, in his examination of the Roman Catholic case against Anglican Orders, will attempt to apply this test to the Church of Rome and to its Papacy and, it is hoped, to himself as well. The Anglican defense is based on relatively few well established facts. For this reason it is hard to understand why there still exists any serious doubt of the validity of Anglican Orders. The obvious explanation is that many Anglicans and Roman Catholics have not been compelled to face these facts squarely. Unwillingness to acquire and weigh the evidence seems then to be the only reason for any lingering doubt. If an Anglican is to become a Roman Catholic he must deny, among other vital things, the Anglican claim to possess a ministry derived from the Apostles through Apostolic Succession. That is, he must accept the Papacy and hence abide without question by its decision that this Anglican claim is false. This he cannot do if he is thoroughly convinced that as an Anglican he is also a Catholic because his Church of England possesses all the essential marks of the Catholic Church. He may therefore in clear conscience leave his Church if and only if he is able to convince himself that it is no longer truly a part of the One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church, not merely because the Pope says so, but because it has lost this Apostolic ministry which is the distinctive mechanism of Catholicity.