What is some information on the conflict between Catholics and Anglicans?

Answer 1

There is no ,'conflict ,' between Catholics' and Anglicans'! Anglicans are Catholics! What there is conflict between are two different concepts of the Catholic Church.

Initially,, catholicity was a Federal form of unity between different Communions of Christian/ Catholic believers who were united through their bishops in a common faith.

This faith was that taught by Christ unto the Apostles and through these to the College of Bishops. Organisation and discussion was carried on through Councils of Bishops such as those revealed in Acts 15.

It was through biblical and traditionally based teachings that the Word was Completed, interpreted and explained by the catholic fathers. All by the Seven Ecumenical Councils!

After some hundreds of years it was seen that the traditional methods were being side lined and instead of a federal approach there were monarchial tendencies growing out of the confusion of the dark ages and the Roman Empire.

The major split, between East and West, came with the separation of the Eastern Portion of the Church in a quarrel regarding the authority amassed by the Bishop of Rome!

This left Rome in complete control in Western Europe!

But there was opposition, Roman claims rested mainly on its inheritance from the Roman Emperors, and from forgeries, 'The Donation of Constantine.'

Britain at the far end of the West was a minor issue and had more or less disappeared from the papal view.

The Catholic Church however had come to Britain early and the British Church had been formed quite soon after the Church at Jerusalem. It's traditions couldn't be tailored to fit Roman Claims and for several hundred years there was friction between the two.

The question never really subsided and it took William of Normandy to clear out all the Anglican Bishops and top clergy , before the Church was conformable to the papacy. Even then there was regular friction. Neither did the Continental churches sit down peacefully and by 1300s there were regular Councils being called to discuss the matter of papal authority.

At the Reformation, it took the dynastic problems to make the Church face the question? Finally it took the squabble between Henry and the Pope to bring things tp a shoot out. IN a fit of pique the King and the English Church pointed out to the Bishop, that Rome had no authority to interfere in another See without permission.

This was perfectly true, but it was a challenge to the prevailing ideas! Canons from at least three of the Seven Councils stressed the authority of the Bishops. It was the pope's turn to sulk and he refused to be in Communion with Henry!.

Later the English Church affirmed the teaching of the Seven Ecumenical Councils, this was in 1536/7, then again in 1542,later in Elizabeth's first year the English Parliament put the Councils as the base of the catholic Faith in England saying all had to be judged by them. Later in 1572 Convocation again affirmed them.

Without doubt England had put it self right in the catholic camp rejecting both the theological claims to grandeur and the political claims to interfere in English politics. [1570] by the paapacy!

Anglicanism, historically is Western Orthodoxy.

Ecclesiastical History of G.B. Jeremy Collier. Vol 1 and later Vols.

Rome and the Early Church. Father Puller. Vol 3.

Denny 's Papalism . Vol's 1.2.3.

Littledale's Roman Claims.

All these may be obtained from the internet! /Google Books.

Roman Catholic AnswerThere is a small, vocal contingent of Anglicans who believe that they are Catholics. The Anglican church was formed by Henry VIII, parliament, and later by Elizabeth I in England as a Protestant church completely subservient to the Crown. Those in the Anglican church, a small minority, who believe that they are the Catholic Church are represented by the above answer.

The conflict between Anglicans and Catholics is mostly a cultural, national thing-witness the horrible fighting in Northern Ireland, where all the people are fighting are divided completely along religious grounds.

The actual religious conflict is different and is multi-faceted, as exampled by the answer above, one of those factions. Most of the Anglicans, who are truly Catholic, in name and spirit, are being welcomed into the Catholic Church by the current Pope under special provisions to allow them to retain elements of their traditional worship. For the most part the differences (or conflict that the questioner refers to) are the same as those conflicts between any protestant group and Catholics, except for the contingent exampled above.