The catholicity of ordained ministry in the Anglican Communion: An examination of the ecclesiology implicit in the validity of orders debate

This book explores one aspect of the ongoing validity of orders debate within the Anglican Communion. While exploring the nature of Holy Orders, it asks why the Communion – or elements within the Communion – continues to regard the recognition of its Holy Orders by other Churches, and especially by the Roman Catholic Church, as important. The understanding of ordination and the nature of Holy Orders differed somewhat between the Anglican Communion and the other major historical sections of the universal church – especially the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches – despite a degree of continuity and consistency. It may even have differed within the Communion. But the question of the external recognition of this validity – and the definition of validity in this context – turned upon the emphasis one placed upon the importance of the Communion’s claim to catholicity, as part of the “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church”. The continued emphasis upon the universality of Holy Orders is the case study through which the wider catholicity of the Anglican Communion is explored.