THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Anglican Catholics, like Roman Catholics, are full-fledged members of the Catholic Church and under the pastoral care of the pope of Rome.
The word Anglican means "English," and in a religious sense, it is in reference to the type of Christianity that developed in England both before and after the tumult of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. After the schism of the Church of England from the Catholic Church in 1534 AD, those Christians that were no longer in communion with Rome came to be called "Anglicans," and their form of Protestant religion "Anglicanism." This type of Protestantism spread all over the world wherever the English crown set up colonies of the British Empire. In the middle 1800s the Oxford Movement began in England which was designed to restore Catholic practices to Anglican churches and slowly move Anglicanism back into full and visible unity with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church. By the middle 1900s there came to be a divergence within the worldwide Anglican Communion, some Anglicans sticking to the principles of the Oxford Movement and seeking full reconciliation with Rome, while others sought to maintain their Protestant identity. In 1980 a group of Anglican (Episcopalian) priests in the United States broke ranks with The Episcopal Church USA and pursued full reconciliation with Rome according to the tradition of the Oxford Movement. This was granted by Pope John Paul II and with that, Anglican Catholicism was reborn!
How is this possible?
There is more than one way to be Catholic. In fact, the Catholic Church is more than just a single Church. It is a communion of multiple smaller "churches" (called "rites" and "uses") that are united under the pope of Rome. Here on the North American continent, we are most familiar with the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, called "Roman Rite Catholicism" or simply "Roman Catholicism." This is because both North and South America were heavily evangelized by Roman Rite Catholic priests, sent here from Europe on missionary trips during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Roman Rite was able to send such abundant missionaries partly because of the celibacy rule for Roman Rite priests established nearly a thousand years ago. This provided an abundance of young men, fit to travel long distances for missionary work, who were not attached to a wife and children. Thus when the New World (America) was discovered, the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church was ready and able to send thousands of missionary priests. This wasn't just the case for the New World. The same thing happened in most of the Far East and the South Pacific as well.
What many people don't realize however, is that Catholic Christianity also has other "rites" and "uses," each governed by their own bishops under the pope. Each one of these rites and uses is like a mini-church in full unity with the pope and worldwide Catholic Church. Of course the Roman Rite is the largest. Again, that is mainly because of the celibacy rule, which creates a priesthood ready and available for long distance missionary work. The next largest rite is the Byzantine Rite, which predominately exists in Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, with missionary outreaches in most major cities of North America, as well as other parts of the world. The Byzantine Rite (like all Catholic rites with the exception of the Roman Rite), allows for married men to become priests. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that married priests can better relate to the daily challenges faced by their married parishioners. This helps the life of the parish. The disadvantage is that married priests are much less available to travel long distances, to remote locations, for missionary work. Thus the Byzantine Rite has a smaller pool of celibate priests to draw upon for this type of work. That's not to say that married priests can't be missionaries. They can. It's just that the needs of wife and children do tend to divide a priest's attention, and make it more difficult to pack up and move to remote locations on a moment's notice. Thus the Byzantine Rite was not able to evangelize the New World (North and South America), Far East and South Pacific as quickly and efficiently as the Roman Rite was. That's why most people in the western world are generally unfamiliar with any rite or use of Catholicism outside of the Roman Rite. Thus the general assumption of most western people is that Roman Rite Catholicism is the ONLY form of Catholicism that exists, and they are genuinely confused when presented with other ways of being Catholic.
For the record, there are four main rites of the Catholic Church. Each one of them is in full union with the pope and has identical beliefs. The only thing that is different is the way they practice (express) their Christian faith through liturgy and music, as well as the Code of Canon Law they use to govern their respective rites. These four main rites are (1) the Roman Rite, (2) the Byzantine Rite, (3) the Antiochian Rite, and (4) the Alexandrian Rite. With the exception of the Roman Rite, all of these rites permit married men to become priests, but none of them permit married men to become bishops. All four of them also value celibacy for priests, just as Jesus and the Apostle Paul did, but the Roman Rite (alone) mandates it. This means that while celibate men are always preferred, any married man may become a priest in the Catholic Church, provided he goes through a rite (or use) that allows married men to become priests.
Now the Catholic Church is not just limited to these four main rites. There are actually about a dozen rites in total, most of them much smaller than the original main four, and nearly all of them originating as an outgrowth of one of the main four. So a larger rite can actually produce (give birth to) a smaller rite. Again, this signifies a change in practice (expression) of worship through liturgy and song, which may also include a new Code of Canon Law. However, all of these rites are under the pope, and work with the approval of the proper authorities at the Vatican. This signifies both the diversity and unity of the Catholic Church. There are many ways to be Catholic, but only one Catholic Christian faith.
Now a "use" is a variation within a rite. In other words, rites are not always monolithic. Sometimes rites permit variations within themselves called "uses," and sometimes those "uses" go on to become new rites, once they grow and develop their own unique way of doing things.
So an Anglican Catholic is a Catholic who follows the "Anglican Use" within the Roman Rite. The Anglican Use is a particular variation within the Roman Rite which follows the liturgy and practice of English Catholicism as developed by the Church of England both before and after the Protestant Reformation. Most Anglican Catholics were former Protestants who joined the Catholic Church and brought their Anglican liturgy and practices with them. In 1980 Pope John Paul II permitted this only insofar as those practices were in conformity with Catholic faith and morals. Prior to the 16th century Reformation, the Catholic Church was already developing the Sarum Use in England, and in some ways, this later Anglican Use is just a continuation where the Catholic Church left off some 500 years ago with the Sarum Use. In fact, the Anglican Use incorporates many aspects of the Sarum Use today. In 2009 Pope Benedict XVI permitted bishops within the Anglican Use, creating new dioceses called "ordinariates." These overlap Roman Rite dioceses, and mirror the dioceses (eparchies) of the Byzantine Rite. Some believe this development sets the Anglican Use well on it's way to becoming it's own rite sometime in the distant future. Others disagree, and maintain the development of ordinariates is simply a unique characteristic of the Anglican Use under the Roman Rite, and it will go no further than that. After all is said and done, it really doesn't matter, because the development of ordinariates effectively makes the Anglican Use function very much like it's own rite, regardless if it is called that or not. In many ways, it is a "rite" in everything but name.
So Anglican Catholics are Catholics, in full union with the pope, subscribing to all of the beliefs and doctrines of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. They are not Roman Catholics, in the sense that they are not regular members of the Roman Rite. Rather, they are members of a subset of the Roman Rite called the Anglican Use, which may (or may not) be a new rite in the making.
What are the distinctions between Roman Catholics and Anglican Catholics?
At a lay level, there really is no significant difference, other than the particular bishop they are under, and the particular liturgy they use. Roman Catholics typically fall under the pastoral authority of the local diocesan bishop. Anglican Catholics typically fall under the pastoral authority of the ordinariate bishop. Roman Catholics typically use some form of the Roman Missal for mass and the Roman Breviary for prayer. Anglican Catholics typically use the Vatican approved "Book of Divine Worship" for both mass and prayer. At first glance, Anglican Catholic worship mimics the more traditional style of Roman Catholic worship, with the priest facing the alter (ad orientem), and parishioners receiving communion on the tongue while kneeling. There are also variations in liturgical practice, common among Anglican Catholics, which are not seen among Roman Catholics. In addition, Anglican Catholic women typically wear the chapel veil in public prayer and worship, much like Roman Catholic women with more traditional tendencies. The Anglican Catholic mass is almost universally said in the language of the people (vernacular), but in English a more traditional form of language is used, sometimes called "High English" or "Old English."
At the level of clergy, Anglican Catholicism takes on a more distinctive characteristic in the sense that married men are allowed to become priests. Thus the Anglican Use is one of the few exceptions in the Roman Rite where celibacy of priests is not mandated. This also leads many to believe the Anglican Use will eventually become it's own rite, but once again, that is a matter of subjective opinion.
There are examples of other "uses" within the Catholic Church that will never become their own rites. The most profound example of this is the "usus antiquior," which simply means "ancient use." This is the traditional Latin liturgy of the Roman Rite used prior to the Second Vatican Council and the introduction of the new Roman Missal in 1970. Some people call this the "Traditional Latin Mass" or the "Tridentine Mass" in reference to the liturgy that came out of the Council of Trent in 1545 AD. However, the usus antiquior is more than just a mass. It involves an entire breviary for prayer, as well as unique customs and practices, many of which are slowly making a comeback (usually in a vernacular form) in many modern Catholic parishes. It also involves a particular kind of music, called Gregorian Chant, which is also having a revival of sorts in many modern Catholic parishes.
So that being said, the formation of a "use" does not automatically mean a future "rite" in the making, and the history of the Anglican Use has yet to be written. Whatever the case, the Anglican Use is a unique type of Catholicism in which members do have a unique identity in and of themselves. They are distinct from the general Roman Rite, so it is somewhat inappropriate to call them "Roman Catholics," but they are fully "Catholics" in every sense of the word. Thus the name "Anglican Catholic" has become the accepted designation for this group of Christians which has been acknowledged by the Vatican as a perfectly acceptable way to describe them.
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