Valid but irregular

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Valid but irregular is a term applied in churches which have a concept of Holy Orders (particularly the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches) to acts carried out by someone who is able, due to their possession of the appropriate orders, to carry out the act, but does not have the necessary authority to do so. In the Roman Catholic church the term may be synonymous with 'valid but illicit'; however, the Anglican churches, being less centralised, do not usually go so far as to declare acts illicit.

Prominent examples of acts declared "valid but irregular" include:

• The ordination of eleven women by bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America in Philadelphia in 1974, before ECUSA permitted women to be ordained.
• The consecration of John Rodgers and Chuck Murphy in Singapore in 2000, by the Anglican churches of Rwanda and South East Asia, to serve as missionary bishops in the United States.