Anglicanism is a tradition of Christianity that traces its roots to the Church of England and the English Reformation of the sixteenth century. Today it is expressed worldwide through the Anglican Communion, a global family of independent national and regional churches — with an estimated 85 million members across roughly 40 provinces — that remain in communion with one another and recognise the Archbishop of Canterbury as a symbolic “focus of unity,” not a central governing authority in the way the Pope is for the Roman Catholic Church.
Anglicanism is often described as a via media, or “middle way,” between Roman Catholic and Protestant tradition. It retains much of the historic liturgy, sacraments, and bishop-led (episcopal) structure inherited from the pre-Reformation Western Church, while also embracing Reformation-era convictions such as worship in the language of the people and the central place of Scripture.
This combination is what people usually mean when they refer to the Anglican Tradition or the Anglican Faith — terms explored further on the pages linked below.