What is the Anglican Communion?
Q: What is the Anglican Communion?
A: The Anglican Communion is a group of all the Anglican churches that are in full communion with the Church of England.
Q: Is there a single Anglican Church with universal authority?
A: No, there is no single Anglican Church with universal authority because each national or regional church has full autonomy.
Q: How many members does the Anglican Communion have?
A: The Anglican Communion has over one hundred and ten million members, making it the third largest communion in the world after the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
Q: What does the status of full communion mean?
A: The status of full communion means that all rites conducted in one Anglican church are recognized by the other churches in the Anglican Communion.
Q: What are some of the churches in the Anglican Communion called?
A: Some of the churches in the Anglican Communion are explicitly called Anglican and recognize their link to England, with Ecclesia Anglicana meaning "Church of England."
Q: Does the Archbishop of Canterbury have formal authority outside of England?
A: No, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the religious head of the Church of England, does not have formal authority outside of that jurisdiction but is recognized as the symbolic head of the worldwide communion.
Q: What is the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Anglican Communion?
A: The role of the Archbishop of Canterbury is as the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, but they do not have formal authority outside of the Church of England.
