Jus novum (c. 1140-1563) Jus novissimum (c. 1563-1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of the faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life Apostolicae curae is the title of an apostolic letter, issued in 1896 by Pope Leo XIII, declaring all Anglican ordinations to be "absolutely null and utterly void".

The Anglican Communion made no official reply, but the archbishops of Canterbury and York of the Church of England published a response known by its Latin title Saepius officio in 1897.

Several centuries later, some hoped that a review in light of a contemporary understanding of grace that had developed in sacramental theology would support a different assessment.

Pierotti held a negative position on the validity of Anglican orders and believed that reaffirmation of their invalidity would result in many converts to Catholicism.

[2] As the Oxford Movement progressed, several members of the clergy and laity of the Church of England argued that the Catholic Church practice of unconditionally ordaining clerical converts from Anglicanism arose out of a lack of inquiry into the validity of Anglican orders and from mistaken assumptions which, in the light of certain historical investigations, could no longer be asserted.

He then directed that the acts of those sessions, together with all the documents, should be submitted to a council of cardinals, "so that when all had studied the whole subject and discussed it in Our presence each might give his opinion".

The bull was issued in September 1896 and declared Anglican orders to be "absolutely null and utterly void":[4] "ordinationes ritu anglicano actas irritas prorsus fuisse et esse, omninoque nullas.

The powers given to Pole on 8 March 1554 distinguished two classes of priests: the first, those who had really received sacred orders, either before the secession of Henry VIII, or, if after it and by ministers infected by error and schism, still according to the accustomed Catholic Rite; the second, those who were initiated according to the Edwardine Ordinal, who on that account could be promoted, since they had received an ordination that was nullThe mind of Julius III appears also from the letter dated 29 January 1555 by which Pole delegated his powers to the Bishop of Norwich.

[6] Pope Clement XI issued a decree on 17 April 1704 that he should be ordained unconditionally and he grounded his decision on the "defect of form and intention".

He then declared that ordinations conducted with the Anglican rite were "null and void", and implored those who were not Catholic and who wanted orders to return to the one sheepfold of Christ where they would find the true aids for salvation.

At the Lambeth Conference of 1897 a subcommittee report made reference to "an examination of the position of the Church of England" by the Pope, but they declined to submit any resolution concerning "the Latin communion".

They then provided pages of quotations, detailing Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies that they considered guilty of the same alleged offenses.

[8] They argued against the pope's example of John Clement Gordon, stating that—among other things—Gordon's desire for reordination had its roots in the discredited Nag's Head Fable.

[9] The Catholic bishops of England and Wales issued a response to Saepius officio, entitled A Vindication of the Bull 'Apostolicae Curae', and pointed out the Protestant theology of Cranmer and the English Reformers.

He stressed "the strength and depth of the Protestantism of England" and regarded other differences with Rome as much more important than its views on Anglican orders.

[13] Nonetheless Vaughan saw fit to publish A Vindication of the Bull 'Apostolicae Curae': A Letter on Anglican Orders by the Cardinal Archbishop and Bishops of the Province of Westminster in 1898.

In particular and probably rare cases the authorities in Rome may judge that there is a "prudent doubt" concerning the invalidity of priestly ordination received by an individual Anglican minister ordained in this line of succession.

He was later appointed a Chaplain of His Holiness and then a Prelate of Honour (both of which carry the title Monsignor) by Pope John Paul II on 3 August 2000.

[22] In 2017, in remarks at an ecumenical forum that were later published, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, questioned the opinion expressed in Apostolicae curae: "When someone is ordained in the Anglican Church and becomes a parish priest in a community, we cannot say that nothing has happened, that everything is 'invalid'".

[23] He cited the fact that Pope Paul VI presented his episcopal ring, as well as a chalice to the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey in 1966 as a recognition of sacraments celebrated in the Anglican Communion: What does it mean when Pope Paul VI gave a chalice to the Archbishop of Canterbury?

With these gestures the Catholic Church already intuits, recognises a reality.Coccopalmerio said the current situation is "unclear": "The question of validity (of Anglican orders) is not a matter of law but of doctrine."

[23] The canon lawyer Edward N. Peters objected to news coverage of Coccopalmerio's views that referred to Leo XIII's "remarks".

[25] Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said that while his Vatican office did not sponsor the group's dialogue, "we are very happy", he said, that the question of Anglican orders was "being examined in the wholly different ecumenical context of today, when so much has been achieved in Anglican-Catholic relations.

[27] The continuing authority of Apostolicae curae was affirmed in the essay "The Significance of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus" by Gianfranco Ghirlanda, Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, released on 9 November 2009.

In the essay, approved by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ghirlanda commented that "the ordination of ministers coming from Anglicanism will be absolute, on the basis of the Bull Apostolicae curae of Leo XIII of September 13, 1896".

[33][34] Other obstacles were mentioned by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, in a talk at a conference of Anglican bishops and laity at St Albans, England, in 2003.

He also noted that "a final solution [to recognition of Anglican orders] can be found only in the larger context of full communion in faith, sacramental life and shared apostolic vision".

He specifically mentioned obstacles like "lay presidency, the ordination of women, and ethical problems such as abortion and homosexual partnerships".

Kallistos Ware, for example, notes in his book, The Orthodox Church: For Orthodoxy, the validity of ordinations does not depend simply on the fulfillment of certain technical conditions (external possession of the apostolic succession; correct form, matter and intention).

Realizing this, Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox in their discussions from the 1950s onwards have left the question of valid orders largely to one side, and have concentrated on more substantive and central themes of doctrinal belief.