[7][8] In the encyclical "From the Oecumenical Patriarch to the Presidents of the Particular Eastern Orthodox Churches", Meletius IV of Constantinople, the Oecumenical Patriarch, wrote: "That the Orthodox theologians who have scientifically examined the question have almost unanimously come to the same conclusions and have declared themselves as accepting the validity of Anglican Orders.
[13] In the sixteenth century a solid body of Anglican opinion emerged which saw the theological importance of the historic episcopate[a] but refused to 'unchurch' those churches which did not retain it.
[14] The preface to the Ordinal limits itself to stating historical reasons why episcopal orders are to 'be continued and reverently used in the Church of England'.
The 1662 Act of Uniformity formally excluded from pastoral office in England any who lacked episcopal ordination but this was a reaction against the abolition of episcopacy in the Commonwealth period.
[16] As the divergences between the theory of 'the godly prince'[clarification needed] and the practices of monarchs like James II, William III and the early Georges became more obvious, Pearson[b] and Beveridge[c] saw the "Apostolical Office" of the bishop as a guarantee of the Church's identity and this formed the background to the vital emphasis placed on it by Newman and the other Tractarians,[17] through whom it passed into Anglo-Catholic thought.