When I recollect on my religious tradition, Catholicism, I ponder on just how different it is in practice and theology from that of protestant traditions. When examining I came to compare how deeply Catholics and Episcopalians are divided on questions of political and religious leadership? Through research I have concluded that Catholics and Episcopalians are vastly separated in political and religious leadership and this factor is the foremost distinction between the two traditions.

Since the establishment of the Episcopalian Church we can see the link between the Church of England and further with the Roman Catholic Church as stated, "It was part of the Anglican Communion, formally organized in Philadelphia in 1789 as the successor to the Church of England in the American Colonies. In points of doctrine, worship, and ministerial order, the church descended from and has remained associated with the Church of England. The history of the church began with the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Va., in 1607." (Encyclopedia Britannica Online) The establishment of the Episcopalian Church was in fact for political and religious leadership freedom from it

The study of these two traditions consisted of two visits to St.John's Episcopal Church and two visits to St.Thomas Moore Catholic Church. The comparison of these traditions stimulated interest in me due to two factors. First, I am Catholic and have been raised in the Catholic tradition, which stimulates much interest in the Episcopalian tradition. This will allow me to play both roles as an insider when I attend Catholic Church and as an outsider in the Episcopal Church. Secondly, until this religion course I was unaware of the details in the Episcopal Church and wanted to further examine the tradition.

I found that the rituals were almost identical to that of the Roman Catholic faith. Rituals such as spoken prayers, hymns that were sung and receiving communion were done in an almost duplicate manner. I was fortunate enough to visit St.John's Episcopal Church on two special occasions. On my initial visit they had baptism of newborn infants. This was performed in the same manner as the Catholic method with the exception that Catholics do not perform baptisms during the regular Sunday mass. On my second visit it was Saint's Sunday in both traditions. This experience almost leads me to conclude that there was no difference in practicing rituals. Both traditions reflected on given Saints during the mass and explained how one should try to follow the examples of these Saints.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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