The Episcopal Church is a United States-based member church of the Anglican Communion. With 2,009,084 members (1,866,758 in the USA alone) in America, Taiwan, Micronesia, the Caribbean Sea, Central America, South America, and Europe, the Episcopal Church was formed in 1789 after the United States became independent from Great Britain, splitting from the Church of England. The church claims that it is both Catholic and Protestant, and since the mid-20th century it has espoused liberal values: it opposes the death penalty, fights for civil rights, calls for the full equality of LGBT people, and ordains women as priests.