The Church of England By Linda Stowe
I spend a fair amount of time online, so I happened to catch a few moments of the coronation of King Charles in 2023. I am not a follower of the Royals, but I was curious about all the pomp and circumstance surrounding the event. One thing in particular caught my eye. King Charles signed a proclamation making himself the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. This surprised me because I thought England recognized religious freedom and, therefore, I did not think it had a state religion.
I asked my friend Michael about this since he’s the worldliest person I know whom I see on a regular basis. I knew Michael would know the answer, but I also knew that he has strong feelings about the monarchy (he cannot abide them), so I had to hear about that before he got to my question. Finally, he explained that the Church of England is indeed the state religion. I asked what the King’s role was and Michael replied that the King is like the Pope. I knew that the coronation would take place in Westminster Abbey, so I asked if it was Catholic. Michael said it used to be, but no longer. When I asked why he simply said, “New management.” Then he continued to recount problems with the monarchy.
Sometimes one must be willing to take a circuitous route to get a straight answer.
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Polly here. That Church of England. King Charles can thank his predecessor, Henry VIII. All the way back to the 16th century.
So yes. The separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church is all because of our cheating friend, King Henry VIII. He sought to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He wanted to send her to the curb because she couldn’t give him a son. However, the Pope refused to grant Henry an annulment. Frustrated by this refusal and fueled by his desire for a male heir, Henry took matters into his own hands.
He got the ball rolling and made himself the Grand Pooh-Bah. As it went, in 1534, Henry VIII passed the Act of Supremacy, which declared the King as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. And that, my friends, effectively severed all ties with the authority of the Pope in Rome.
It has been that way since, mostly.
If you think it sounds pushy, don’t be surprised if it happens here. I can see someone, very orange, proclaiming himself head of our new National Religion, which bans the right to choose and keeps women at home in the kitchen as submissives.
