What is the difference between Episcopalian and Catholics?

Answer 1

Episcopalians don't have confession. but there are two other differences. I know when I was younger my mother told me that Episcopalians (which I am) were just 3 steps from Catholic. But the only difference that I know of for sure is that Episcopalians don't have confession.

Roman Catholic AnswerThe exact same differences as between protestants and Catholics as Episcopalians are protestants. They just are closer to the Catholics than most protestants, in belief, but the Church ruled definitively, in the nineteenth century, that they did not possess a valid priesthood or Apostolic Succession, and to this day, they reject Christ's Vicar on earth, the Pope.

The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in the first century to bring God to the people and the people to God. The Protestant "churches" were founded by individuals sixteenth centuries after Christ according to their own personal beliefs.

Catholics believe that God the Son became incarnate in a human body through the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin Mary to save mankind from their sins. He established His Church and appointed Apostles (Bishops) and Peter (Pope) to guide that Church on earth and He guaranteed to be with It until the end of time. Catholics believe that you only have one choice in life: to love and serve the Lord, or to reject Him and be separated from Him forever in Hell. Every other choice you have in life comes down to that, is this following Jesus or rejecting Him.

Protestants reject Christ because they reject His Body: the Church. They believe that they are their own little Pope and that they can decide how to follow Jesus themselves. Thus they fragment into many "denominations" as they decide how they want to follow God, ignoring what He, Himself has said, and interpreting for themselves what is right or wrong. Thus they believe that they have more choices than following God or not, they believe that they have the choice to decide HOW they are going to follow God.

Answer 2

Catholic Answer The Catholic Church was founded by Our Blessed Lord in 33 A.D. when He hung dead on the cross, and confirmed fifty days later at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on it to guide it until the end of the world; leading all people to God, and bringing God to people.

The Episcopal Church is a daughter of the Anglican Church which was formed by King Henry VIII of England, his daughter, Elizabeth I, and Parliament in the sixteenth century, when Henry didn't have a male heir and wanted an annulment. The Catholic Church wouldn't allow him one as he was already validly married, so he formed his own church to grant him a divorce. It is one of the 33,000 protestant denominations in the world at present.

Answer The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the Anglican Communion whose mother Church is the Church of England. The Church of England was established as independent from the Roman Catholic Church in 1539 under King Henry VIII and Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer.

When the Church of England originally broke ties with Rome they had no theological differences but as time went by significant theological changes occurred and the Anglican/Episcopal faith became divided into two parties that that are known as the "High Church" and the "Low Church". The High Church has stayed closer to Roman Catholic theology and tradition in regards to sacraments and forms of worship, whereas the Low Church has been more influenced by the other 16th century reformers and has taken a more Protestant theological outlook.

The Anglican/Episcopal faith like the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches bases itself on the three-fold ministry of deacons, priests and bishops which traces its lineage back to the apostles. This is called apostolic succession, or the historic episcopate. Anglicans/Episcopalians do not recognize the Pope as supreme head of the Christian Church; they do however recognize him as a spiritual leader and a valid bishop in apostolic succession/the historic episcopate.

Episcopalians/Anglicans view the pope as being no more or no less valid than any other bishop consecrated in this succession, whether they be Roman Catholic, Orthodox or Anglican/Episcopalian

Anglicans/Episcopalians believe that in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist/Mass/Lords Supper, Christ is in some form truly present among the elements. However, unlike the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican/Episcopal Church tried not to put a definitive term to it and rejected a physical transformation such as the dogma of transubstantiation; although today many High Church Anglican/Episcopalians do ascribe to this dogma.

Anglicans/Episcopalians recognize the Two Great Sacraments as instituted by Christ, those being:

Baptism- initiation into Christ's family (The Church) and the cleansing of our sins through water and the spirit by use of the words "I Baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit"

Holy Eucharist- The sacrament in which we accept the REAL PRESENCE of Jesus Christ in the form of the consecrated elements (bread and wine.) This Sacrament (also known as the mass, divine liturgy, or Holy Communion) is celebrated in most Episcopal/Anglican parishes every week, and in some every day.

The other sacramental rites of the church, inspired by the guidance of the Holy spirit for the people of God are those of:

*Reconciliation of Penitent- the sacramental rite in which those who repent and are sorry for their sins may confess them in the presence of a priest (publicly or privately) and receive the assurance of pardon and the grace of absolution.

*Confirmation- The Sacramental Rite in which we make a mature commitment to Jesus Christ through the laying on of hands by a bishop. In this Rite, the Spirit comes down upon us in a special way transforming us and empowering us for a new life in Jesus Christ.

*Holy Matrimony- The Sacramental Rite in Which two people make a lifelong union to one another through sacred vows, in front of God and God's Church and receive the blessing to fulfill their vows through a cleric.

*Holy Orders/Ordination- The sacramental rite in which God gives authority and the grace of the Holy Spirit to men and women who are called and chosen to be made bishops, priests and deacons, through prayer and the laying on of hands by bishops.

*Unction- The Sacramental rite of Anointing the sick with oil or the laying on of hands, by which God's grace is given for the healing of spirit, mind and body.

It's clear that the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican/Episcopal Church although different have significant similarities.