Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is an international association of independent churches consisting of the Church of England and of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with it. The status of full communion means, ideally, that there is mutual agreement on essential doctrines and that full participation in the sacramental life of each church is available to all communicant Anglicans.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England, has a place of honour among the bishops of the Anglican churches. He is recognized as primus inter pares, or first among equals. The archbishop does not exercise authority in the provinces outside England, but instead acts as a focus of unity.

The churches of the Anglican Communion considers themselves to be part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and to be both Catholic and Reformed. For some adherents Anglicanism represents a non-papal Catholicism, for others a form of Protestantism though without a dominant guiding figure such as Luther, Knox, Calvin, Zwingli or Wesley. For others, their self-identity represents some combination of the two. The communion encompasses a wide spectrum of belief and practice including evangelical, liberal and Catholic.