Anglican Orders

The publication of Pope Leo XI11's apostolic letter declaring Anglican priestly orders to be 'absolutely null and utterly void' sent shock waves throughout the Anglican church which continue to reverberate a century later. Today, as Anglicans and Roman Catholics renew their search for greater mutual understanding, all the documents in the debate which led to the issue of ,Apostolicae Curae are brought together in English translation for the first time. This unique and important book is published with two aims in mind. Firstly, to set out the evidence so that those concerned with the same questions today may better understand the limited context of the verdict reached in 1896 and secondly, in the hope of dispelling the frustration and resentment still provoked, to demonstrate the thoroughness, fairness and wide spectrum of opinion whih characterized the original debate.

This review of the Apostolicae Curae presents six essays by American and British contributors, both Anglican and Roman Catholic, on the 100th anniversary of the papal condemnation of Anglican Orders. The book also includes the English translation of the original papal document and the Anglican response to it at that time. An introduction by R. William Franklin describes the history of the tensions between the two churches and the theological differences between them. Franklin helps the reader understand the relevance of these 100-year-old documents to today's ecumenical concerns and hopes. From the Foreword: "This forthright and unequivocal pronouncement, which the Roman Catholic Church has never rescinded or modified, is of such critical importance to the Anglican-Roman Catholic relations that it deserves to be memorialized in print a hundred years later, and to be examined in depth, both on the account of the arguments it deployed, and of the consequences that have flowed (and still flow) from it." --Hugh Montefiore, Bishop of Birmingham (ret.)