Saw Blessing of Animals / Episcopal Church

[Christopher Weimer]

With all due respect to Rosina (her message pasted below for context), there are actually some significant differences between the Episcopal and Catholic Churches.  She's quite correct that the external forms of worship and the liturgy are very similar, but the teachings and doctrines underlying those forms are radically different in some ways, as you'd expect between the Church of Rome and a Church that broke away from it as part of the Reformation.

Most significant are the conflicting doctrines of the sacraments: the Catholic Church teaches that there are seven sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance/Reconciliation, Matrimony, Ordination, and Extreme Unction), while the Anglican/Episcopal Church's 25th Article considers only Baptism and the Eucharist to be authentic sacraments; the other five rituals have a different, lesser status.  The Episcopalian view of the Eucharist is also radically opposed to the Catholic Church's, since the Episcopal Church rejects Catholic doctrine on three counts: (a) they hold that the Eucharist is a Commemoration of the Last Supper, but not an actual Sacrifice; (b) they deny Transubstantiation, the doctrine that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ; (c) they deny the sacrificial office of the priesthood and the propitiatory character of the Mass.  There are also some other doctrinal differences, such as the existence of Purgatory (the Episcopal Church does n!
 ot believe it exists), the necessity for auricular Confession (not part of Episcopalian belief), etc.  If a church's true identity derives from its teachings and its interpretations of Scripture, then the Episcopal and Catholic Churches are not as close as their surface similarities might make it appear.

Christopher Weimer

<<Episcopalians do have confessions, communion, confirmation etc. The only
difference with the Roman Catholic Church is that Episcopalian priests may
marry and may be women. Although they do not recognize the Pope as the head
of their church, they appear to have respect and admiration for the Pope and
for other things Catholic. >>