"In 1870, the First Vatican Council declared the primacy and infallibility of the pope. This increased significantly the division between the two churches. Other points of conflict were: The developing Protestant world-wide missionary movement The increasing role of Mary in the Roman Catholic church, as evidenced by dogmas that she was assumed body and soul into the glory of Heaven at the time of her death, and that she was conceived without sin."

Essay by a Religious Studies Professor at University of Arizona about the Anglican Communion.