[Ransomed]

That’s what I thought. Rome did consider them apostolic for a long time, right? Did the other apostolic Churches quit considering them apostolic at the same time or what?

Freegards

[AnAmericanMother]

Apostolicae Curae was basically the formalization of a consensus that Anglican orders were rendered invalid during the reign of Edward VI, Henry VIII's son. Edward's radical Protestant advisers changed the manner of consecration of bishops and ordination of priests to remove the words empowering a priest to celebrate the Eucharist and perform the "office and work" of a priest. That omission from the traditional form was intended to separate from the Catholic Church by omitting any special power of the Holy Spirit, because the radical Protestants believed in "every man his own priest" and denied any special power in ordination. So both intention and actual words severed the line of Apostolic Succession.

In 1555, after Queen Mary's accession to the throne and the return of England to Catholicism, Pope Paul IV issued the Bull Praeclara Charissimi, directing that "those who have been promoted to ecclesiastical Orders . . . by any one but a Bishop validly and lawfully ordained are bound to receive those Orders again." Apostolicae Curae also notes that converting priests were reordained in the 17th and 18th centuries, thus indicating that their orders were not valid.

[ichabod1]

I believe it sort of came and went. Henry took the English out of the Church, but then when Bloody Mary got in she took them back, then James took them out again, for good. The bishops that joined Henry were validly consecrated bishops. Therefore, in my understanding, those they ordained were validly (but illicitly) done. However, Leo XIII declared that they were indeed INVALID, due to defects in the form of ordination.

So, yes, for centuries, apparently, they were considered schismatics, but validly ordained. One hundred eleven years ago, that was overturned.

It’s interesting that this was just about the time that the C of E stoppped persecuting Catholics and allowed them to have their own churches.