page_title: Anglo-Catholicism
section_title: Recent developments
hierarchical_section_title: Anglo-Catholicism / History / Recent developments
caption_attribution_description: English: Anglican Service Book (1991)
context_page_description: Anglo-Catholicism, Anglican Catholicism, or Catholic Anglicanism comprises people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches.
  The term Anglo-Catholic was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglicanism had already existed. Particularly influential in the history of Anglo-Catholicism were the Caroline Divines of the 17th century, the Jacobite Non-Juring Schism of the 17th- and 18th-centuries, and the Oxford Movement, which began at the University of Oxford in 1833 and ushered in a period of Anglican history known as the "Catholic Revival".
  A minority of Anglo-Catholics, sometimes called Anglican Papalists, consider themselves under papal supremacy even though they are not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Such Anglo-Catholics, especially in England, often celebrate Mass according to the contemporary Roman Catholic rite and are concerned with seeking reunion with the Roman Catholic Church.
context_section_description: Since at least the 1970s, Anglo-Catholicism has been dividing into two distinct camps, along a fault-line which can perhaps be traced back to Bishop Charles Gore's work in the 19th century.
  The Oxford Movement had been inspired in the first place by a rejection of liberalism and latitudinarianism in favour of the traditional faith of the "Church Catholic", defined by the teachings of the Church Fathers and the common doctrines of the historical eastern and western Christian churches.
  Because of the emphasis on upholding traditions, until the 1970s most Anglo-Catholics rejected liberalising development such as the conferral of holy orders on women. Present-day "traditionalist" Anglo-Catholics seek to maintain tradition and to keep Anglican doctrine in line with that of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. They often ally themselves with conservative evangelical Anglicans to defend traditional teachings on sexual morality and women's roles in the Church. The main organisation in the Church of England that opposes the ordination of women, Forward in Faith, is largely composed of Anglo-Catholics.
  Gore's work, however, bearing the mark of liberal Protestant higher criticism, paved the way for an alternative form of Anglo-Catholicism influenced by liberal theology. Thus in recent years, many Anglo-Catholics have accepted the ordination of women, the use of inclusive language in Bible translations and the liturgy, and progressive attitudes towards homosexuality and the blessing of same sex unions. Such Anglicans often refer to themselves as "Liberal Catholics". The more "progressive" or "liberal" style of Anglo-Catholicism is represented by Affirming Catholicism and the Society of Catholic Priests.
  A third strand of Anglican Catholicism criticises elements of both liberalism and conservatism, drawing instead on the 20th century Roman Catholic Nouvelle Théologie, especially Henri de Lubac. This movement rejected the dominance of Thomism and Neo-Scholasticism in Catholic theology, and advocated instead for a "return to the sources" of the Christian faith (scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers) while remaining open to dialogue with the contemporary world on issues of theology.  John Milbank and others within this strand have been instrumental in the creation of the ecumenical (though predominantly Anglican and Roman Catholic) movement known as Radical Orthodoxy.
  Some traditionalist Anglo-Catholics have left official Anglicanism to form "continuing Anglican churches" such as those in the Anglican Catholic Church and Traditional Anglican Communion. Others such as Ann Widdecombe have left Anglicanism altogether for the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches, in the belief that liberal doctrinal changes in the Anglican churches have gone too far.
caption: Anglican Service Book (1991), a traditional-language version of the Book of Common Prayer
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