Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church

The Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church is the Anglican

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...

church in Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. Like all Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...

churches, it recognises the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

. In addition, the Church is an extraprovincial diocese under the metropolitical authority of the Archbishop.

History

The establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1834 granted limited religious toleration to non-Roman Catholics, and consequently led to the opening of an Anglican chapel in Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

. A second chapel was opened in 1868. The Anglican mission coincided with the growing influence of the Old Catholic movement in Portugal. Congregations were created from Catholic priests and laypeople

Laity

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...

who refused to accept the dogmas of the infallibility

Infallibility

Infallibility, from Latin origin , is a term with a variety of meanings related to knowing truth with certainty.-In common speech:...

and universal ordinary jurisdiction

Primacy of the Roman Pontiff

The primacy of the Bishop of Rome is an ecclesiastical doctrine held by some branches of Christianity, most notably the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion. The doctrine concerns the respect and authority that is due to the Bishop of Rome from bishops and their...

of the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

, as defined by the First Vatican Council

First Vatican Council

The First Vatican Council was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This twentieth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, held three centuries after the Council of Trent, opened on 8 December 1869 and adjourned...

in 1870.

The Lusitanian Church was formed in 1880 as representatives of these congregations met at a synod presided over by H.C. Riley, bishop of the newly formed mission in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. The synod resulted in a constitution and a decision to abide by the doctrinal and liturgical standards of the Anglican Communion. In 1884, a Portuguese Book of Common Prayer

Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...

was created, incorporating elements of Anglican, Roman, and Mozarabic

Mozarabic Rite

The Mozarabic, Visigothic, or Hispanic Rite is a form of Catholic worship within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church . Its beginning dates to the 7th century, and is localized in the Iberian Peninsula...

liturgies. From the beginning the church was assisted by a Council of Bishops presided over by Lord Plunket, at that time Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath

Bishop of Meath

The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric.-History:...

, and years afterwards there were some American Episcopal Bishops who provided Episcopal ministrations and pastoral care, particularly Bishops in Charge of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, until the consecration of the first Lusitanian Bishop in 1958.

Under the terms of the Bonn Agreement

Bonn Agreement (religion)

The Bonn Agreement of 1931 is a document that established full communion between the Church of England and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht, including the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands...

, the Lusitanian Church established full communion with various branches of the Anglican and Old Catholic Communions. Full integration into the Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion

occurred in 1980 when the Church became an extraprovincial diocese under the metropolitical authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

Structure

As an Episcopal denomination, the church is governed by bishops (Greek, episcopoi). The Lusitanian Church is a diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

with 15 parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

es and mission

Mission (Christian)

Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...

Worship and liturgy

The Lusitanian Church embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest, and bishop. Increasingly, an emphasis is being placed on these orders working collaboratively within the wider ministry of the whole people of God. A Portuguese language Prayer Book is the basis of the Church's liturgy.

Ecumenical relations

Like many other Anglican churches, the Lusitanian Church has entered into full communion

Full communion

In Christian ecclesiology, full communion is a relationship between church organizations or groups that mutually recognize their sharing the essential doctrines....

with the Old Catholics

Old Catholic Church

The term Old Catholic Church is commonly used to describe a number of Ultrajectine Christian churches that originated with groups that split from the Roman Catholic Church over certain doctrines, most importantly that of Papal Infallibility...

External links

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