High Church are often Anglo-Catholic.
Low Church is often like Presbyterian or Methodist
Thanks, Dustin, for the offer and for advancing inter-religious understanding
First, just to share that my experience that High Church and Anglo-Catholics still differ. High Church still uses BCP while I have been in an Anglo-Catholic mass which uses the Catholic Order of Mass (except that they pray for the Pope, the Archbishop of Caterbury and the EP in the Eucharist Prayer - that was my only indication that I shouldn’t go for communion!). I should have (but didn’t) ask the priest whether he uses BCP on Sundays.
I have raised this point before in other threads but did not get a definitive answer, maybe because I didn’t phrase the question right. In the Latin Catholic Church, being in communion means that we share all the same faith (and we define that to death) and accept the same authority (of the bishop and of Rome). I suspect that the Anglican Communion do not have the same understanding even if the same words are used.
Is it that the term ‘same faith’ is interpreted a little more narrowly? In the Catholic Church, having woman priest would mean a different faith. Would the Anglican Communion exclude this point, for instance, from the term ‘same faith’?
Also, (I have related this before) I am reminded of the priest at my neighbourhood Anglican parish in London, who considers himself more in communion with the Presbyterian pastor down the road than with his High-church Bishop (traditionally, the Bishop of London is High Church and in fact the bishop at that point, Dr Graham, eventually converted to Catholicism after his retirement). Does this mean that there is less acceptance of the authority of one’s bishop? Could an Anglican priest accept his bishop’s juridical authority while looking elsewhere for doctrinal leadership?
I understand that the Anglican Communion is a broad church and as such, different opinions are accomodated within the same big tent. But, is it possible for two persons with different understanding of the term, ‘being in communion’ to say that they are in communion with each other? If so, how is this reconciled because a Catholic would see it as an oxymoron.
I hope I am not starting a debate here but this Catholic here is genuinely confused.