Christianity in The Republic of Ireland - Major Denominational Families - Protestantism - Anglicanism

Anglicanism

The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland and the largest non-Roman Catholic religious body on the island. Like other Episcopal churches, it considers itself to be both Catholic, in that its beliefs and practices are based on a continuous tradition dating back to the early Church, and Reformed, in that it does not accept the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome.

When the church in England broke communion from the Roman Catholic Church, all but two of the bishops of the Church in Ireland followed the Church of England, although almost no clergy or laity did so. The reformed Church in Ireland then became the state church, assuming possession of most church property (and so retaining a great repository of religious architecture and other items, though some were later destroyed). The substantial majority of the population never changed adherence, remaining strongly Roman Catholic, though there were good reasons for joining the state church. Despite its numerical minority, however, the Church of Ireland remained the official state church until it was disestablished on 1 January 1871 by the Irish Church Act 1869.

Like other Irish churches, the Church of Ireland did not divide when Ireland was partitioned in the 1920s, and it continues to be governed on an all-Ireland basis. Today the Church of Ireland is, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in all of Ireland and the third largest in Northern Ireland after the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches. It is governed by a synod of clergy and laity and organized into two ecclesiastical provinces: Armagh, led by the Archbishop of Armagh (styled "Primate of All Ireland"), currently Alan Harper and Dublin, led by the Archbishop of Dublin, John Neill.

It has been reported that Irish Roman Catholics are joining the Church of Ireland "in strong numbers."

The 16th apologist Richard Hooker posits that there are three sources of authority in Anglicanism: scripture, tradition and reason. It is not known how widely accepted this idea is within Anglicanism. It is further posited that the three sources uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary means of arriving at doctrine; things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason. This may usefully be contrasted with the teachings of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches which list three sources of authority: Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and Magisterium. Reason is not listed as a source of authority or teaching in these churches.

The contemporary Church of Ireland, despite having a number of High Church (often described as Anglo-Catholic) parishes, is generally on the Low Church end of the spectrum of world Anglicanism. Historically, it had little of the difference in churchmanship between parishes characteristic of other Anglican Provinces, although a number of markedly liberal High Church, or evangelical parishes have developed in recent decades. It was the second province of the Anglican Communion after the Anglican Church of New Zealand (1857) to adopt, on its 1871 disestablishment, synodical government, and was one of the first provinces to ordain women to the priesthood (1991).

The Church of Ireland has two cathedrals in Dublin: within the walls of the old city is Christ Church Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Dublin, and just outside the old walls is St. Patrick's Cathedral, which the church designated as a National Cathedral for Ireland in 1870. Cathedrals also exist in the other dioceses. The church operates a library and seminary, the Church of Ireland Theological College, in Rathgar, in the south inner suburbs of Dublin. The church's central offices are in Rathmines, adjacent to the Church of Ireland College of Education.

The Church in 1999 voted to prohibit the flying of flags other than the St. Patrick's Flag. However, the Union Flag continues to fly on many churches in Northern Ireland.