National church
This article deals with the state-church legal term. See also National Churches (Rome).
National churches are Christian churches whose organization is related to and limited to a single state and which do not submit to supranational authorities.
National church tendencies and splits exist in the Roman Catholic, in the Orthodox and also in the Protestant area, in each case with different causes and accents.
In the early modern period, the Catholic Church in France and the Anglican Church saw themselves, to varying degrees, as national churches.
According to Roman Catholic understanding, national churches are those branches of the Church that are subject to a national jurisdiction only and do not recognize the universal jurisdictional primacy of the papacy. Until the Second Vatican Council, this term was occasionally used to refer to Catholic churches that differed from the Roman Catholic Church mainly in the use of the respective national language in the liturgy (instead of Latin).
Today the word is - sometimes inaccurately - also used as a generic term for such churches that see themselves as part of the Catholic Church, but in their ecclesiastical life show essential differences to the Roman Catholic Church (for example Old Catholics, Anglicans, Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil or the Independent Philippine Church).
In the second half of the church struggle at the time of National Socialism there was a national church movement German Christians as a continuation of the "German Christians".
Questions and Answers
Q: What is a national church in Christianity?
A: A national church in Christianity is a church organization that claims pastoral jurisdiction over a nation.
Q: How is a national church different from a state church?
A: A national church is different from a state church in that it does not necessarily need to be officially endorsed by the state, and even may be persecuted by the government.
Q: Can a national church be persecuted by the government?
A: Yes, a national church may be persecuted by the government, as Orthodox churches were persecuted under communist regimes.
Q: What is a state religion?
A: A state religion is similar to a national or state church, except the religion need not be Christian.
Q: Which denominations commonly use the term national church?
A: The term national church is used a lot within, but is not shortened to, the Anglican Communion and Orthodox Christianity.
Q: How does the Episcopal Church in the United States of America consider itself?
A: The Episcopal Church in the United States of America considers itself to be the national church of the United States.
Q: What might the term national church mean in Catholicism?
A: In Catholicism, the term national church might mean to a parish catering to immigrants from another nation.
