The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Formally founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The traditional origins of Anglican doctrine are summarised in the Thirty-nine Articles (1571) and The Books of Homilies. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, recognised as primus inter pares, but does not exercise authority in Anglican provinces outside of the Church of England. Most, but not all, member churches of the communion are the historic national or regional Anglican churches.
Since the 1990s, the Anglican Communion has struggled with controversy regarding homosexuality in the church. In 1998, the 13th Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops passed a resolution "rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture". However, this is not legally binding. "Like all Lambeth Conference resolutions, it is not legally binding on all provinces of the Communion, including the Church of England, though it commends an essential and persuasive view of the attitude of the Communion." "Anglican national churches in Brazil, South Africa, South India, New Zealand and Canada have taken steps toward approving and celebrating same-sex relationships amid strong resistance among other national churches within the 80 million-member global body. The Episcopal Church in the U.S. has allowed same-sex marriage since 2015, and the Scottish Episcopal Church has allowed same-sex marriage since 2017." In 2017, clergy within the Church of England indicated their inclination towards supporting same-sex marriage by dismissing a bishops' report that explicitly asserted the exclusivity of church weddings to unions between a man and a woman. At General Synod in 2019, the Church of England announced that same-gender couples may remain recognised as married after one spouse experiences a gender transition. In 2023, the Church of England announced that it would authorise "prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and for God's blessing for same-sex couples."
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses, of which twenty-one are located in South Africa, and one each in Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Saint Helena.
The Anglican Church of Mexico, originally known as Church of Jesus is the Anglican province in Mexico and includes five dioceses. Although Mexican in origin and not the result of any foreign missionary effort, the Church uses the colors representing Mexico as well as those of the United States-based Episcopal Church in its heraldic insignia or shield, recognizing a historical connection with that US church which began with obtaining the apostolic succession.
The Anglican Church of South America is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion that covers six dioceses in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
The Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil is the 19th province of the Anglican Communion, covering the country of Brazil. It is composed of nine dioceses and one missionary district, each headed by a bishop, among whom one is elected as the Primate of Brazil. The current Primate is Marinez Rosa dos Santos Bassotto. IEAB is the oldest non-Catholic church in Brazil, originating from the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed in 1810 between Portugal and the United Kingdom which allowed the Church of England to establish chapels in the former Portuguese colony. In 1890 American missionaries from the Episcopal Church established themselves in the country aiming to create a national church; unlike the English chapels, they celebrated services in Portuguese and converted Brazilians. The Anglican community of Brazil was a missionary district of the Episcopal Church until 1965, when it gained its ecclesiastical independence and became a separate province of the Anglican Communion. Twenty years later, IEAB began to ordain women. It preaches a social gospel, being known for its commitment to fight against problems that affect vast portions of the Brazilian society, such as social inequality, land concentration, domestic violence, racism, homophobia and xenophobia. Its stance as an Inclusive Church has caused both schisms and the arrival of former Catholics and Evangelicals in search of acceptance.
The Episcopal Church of Cuba is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States. The diocese consists of the entire country of Cuba. From 1966 to 2020, it was an extra-provincial diocese under the archbishop of Canterbury. As of 2021, it had nearly 1,600 members and an average worship attendance of more than 600 in forty-four parishes, including the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Havana.
Michael Bruce Curry is an American retired bishop who was the 27th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church. Elected in 2015, he was the first African American elected to the role, having previously served as Bishop of North Carolina from 2000 to 2015. His tenure as presiding bishop ended on November 1, 2024, and he was succeeded by Sean Rowe.
The Anglican Church in Central America is a province of the Anglican Communion, covering five sees in Central America.
Primates in the Anglican Communion are the most senior bishop or archbishop of one of the 42 churches of the Anglican Communion. The Church of England, however, has two primates, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York.
The ordination of women in the Anglican Communion has been increasingly common in certain provinces since the 1970s. Several provinces, however, and certain dioceses within otherwise ordaining provinces, continue to ordain only men. Disputes over the ordination of women have contributed to the establishment and growth of progressive tendencies, such as the Anglican realignment and Continuing Anglican movements.
Foley Thomas Beach is an American Anglican bishop. He was the second primate and archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, a church associated with the Anglican realignment movement, and is the first diocesan bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the South. Beach was elected as the church's primate on June 21, 2014. His enthronement took place on October 9, 2014. During his primacy, he served as chairman of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans Primates Council and led the ACNA through a period that included the COVID-19 pandemic.
The calendar of saints of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil follows the tradition of The Episcopal Church (TEC), of which it was a missionary district until 1965.
William Matthew Merrick Thomas was an American missionary bishop of the diocese which eventually became the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil.
The Anglican Church of Chile is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion that covers four dioceses in Chile. Formed in 2018, the province is the 40th in the Anglican Communion. The province consists of four dioceses. Its primate and metropolitan is the Archbishop of Chile, Héctor Zavala.
The Anglican Church in Brazil is an evangelical Anglican denomination in Brazil. It is not a member of the Anglican Communion, but is in full communion with other provinces of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches.
Julio César Martín Trejo is the Anglican bishop in Southern Mexico identified as a strong pro-LGBTQ advocate since 2020
The Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola [Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola (IAMA)] is the 42nd ecclesiastical province of the world-wide Anglican Communion. Established in 2021, is the newest province to have been erected. Previously the dioceses which constitute this new province were parts of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. The new province adopted its constitution and canons at a special synod, and was formally inaugurated on 24 September 2021, in an online teleconference including Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Josiah Idowu-Fearon, Secretary-General of the Anglican Consultative Council.
Miguel Uchôa Cavalcanti is a Brazilian Anglican bishop and author. Since 2012, he has been diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Recife, which broke away from the Anglican Communion-recognized Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (IEAB), and since 2018, he has been the first primate of the GAFCON-recognized Anglican Church in Brazil (IAB). Uchôa is also rector of the Anglican Parish of the Holy Spirit in greater Recife, which is considered one of the largest Anglican churches in Latin America with more than 1,000 worshipers.
Alba Sally Sue Hernández García is a bishop of the Anglican Church of Mexico. On November 6, 2021, the Diocese of Mexico elected Alba Sally Sue Hernández as Bishop, making her the first woman to be elected bishop within the Anglican Church of Mexico. She was consecrated and ordained a bishop on January 29, 2022.
