35. Англикане

At the time of the Reformation, Henry VIII reigned in England. At first, in 1522, he opposed Luther as a defender of the faith, but ten years after this, in 1532, he broke the alliance with the pope because he did not allow him to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon (aunt of Emperor Charles V, the main defender of the papacy in the fight against the Reformation) and marry his beloved maid of honor Anne Boleyn. The priest Thomas Cranmer inspired the king with the idea of ​​declaring himself the head of the Anglican Church and allowing himself a new marriage. Henry elevated him to the rank of Archbishop of Canterbury (the highest ecclesiastical office in England), and, under his leadership, a new translation of the Bible and a catechism was compiled in the spirit of the Catholic Church, but with the rejection of the primacy of the pope. Neither the Catholics nor the Protestants who were in England wanted to accept Henry's or Cranmer's Catechism. Then Henry began to subject all opponents of the doctrine he had invented to cruel punishments, and Cranmer himself, a reformer at heart, barely escaped the fire (which, however, he did not escape later). The successors of Henry VIII in matters of faith were extreme opponents of each other, and each tried to establish in England the confession that he himself followed. The Duke of Sommerset, an extreme reformer, reigned in the name of King Edward VI (1547–1553). Mary, Henry's daughter from his first marriage (1553–1558), was a devout Catholic. Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn (1558–1603), was a reformer and finally brought this religion its final triumph in her country. The Anglican confession is essentially Reformed, in some points it approaches Lutheran (in the doctrine of the Eucharist), and the episcopal system and some liturgical rites kept it from Catholicism. Subsequently, the Puritans separated from the Anglican Episcopal Society and wished to remain pure reformers without any admixture of Catholicism. Since they predominantly rebelled against the episcopal system and entrusted the government of their society to the elders, they are also called Presbyterians. The extreme of the Puritans, the so-called Independents, reject even the Presbyterian structure of the Church and teach that every Christian is a spiritual person and must communicate to his brothers what God will instill in him. In the depths of the Episcopal Church itself, due to the uncertainty of its teaching, a division appeared: some deviated more towards the old Catholic views and orders, others, on the contrary, adhered predominantly to the Reformed teachings and structure of the church community. Over time, three parties were formed: the high Church (closer to Catholicism), the low Church (closer to the Reformation) and the broad Church (aimed at reconciling the two parties mentioned above). This latter recognizes only those points that are common to all parties, and is distinguished by indifference in matters of faith (indifferentism). Recently (since 1883) there has been a noticeable desire in the Anglican Episcopal Church to return to the state in which it was before the time of the Reformation. At the head of this movement was the doctor of Oxford University, Pusey, which is why this desire is known under the name Puseyism. Many Englishmen turned to the Roman Catholic Church, but since most of them still had strong irritation against the papacy, from here comes a significant movement in the Anglican Episcopal Church towards rapprochement with the Orthodox Church. You might be interested in: