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King Henry VIII passed the Act of Supremacy in 1543 which declared that the King was "The only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England" and the Treasons Act 1534 made it high treason, punishable by death, to refuse to acknowledge the King as such.

Henry was officially excommunicated on December 17th 1538, five years after the annulment of his marriage to Catherine and commencement of his marriage to Anne.

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14y ago
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11y ago

The Pope has never been the ,'head of the Church of England'! He was no more than the Head of the Church of Rome and little more than Head of a Dept of State for the Emperor. It was from this source that the Bishop of Rome got his authority not from the Church!

In 597 AD, the Pope sent a Missionary to the Anglo Saxons in Britain completely ignoring the Catholic [Celtic,] Church already here. 5/7 yrs, later S. Augustine tried to get the Catholic Bishops to put themselves under the popes authority they refused pointing out they already had a bishop and thank you but he was enough!

Later, for political reasons and in honour of the Roman Emperor, the Pope was made Primate of the West and the Bishop of Constantinople was made Primate of the East!

These were places of honour only! A tribute to their being parish priests to the emperor!

From this the Pope began to spread his wings and seized every chance he had to amass more and more power! In 1066 when William the Butcher invaded England and killed the King, Harold, the Pope aided him and William in return cleared out all the English Bishops and put in Continental ones. These immediately changed the policy towards the papacy and became more susceptible to the popes policies!

It was a time of quiet struggle and the disquiet regarding papal authority wouldn't go away and more people and churches wanted an answer! The scandalous behaviour of some popes didn't help and gradually there was a response to the business by calling General Councils.

Some popes were sacked and others were imprisoned , whist some took to their heels.

Henry the Eighth, and the English Church finally came down on what could be called the Orthodox side by telling the Pope that the Bishop of Rome has no authority in another bishop's see, that is according to the canon law of the ancient catholic

Church!

The pope tried, but failed in his efforts to lead the English Church in to heresy!

Roman Catholic AnswerLittle confusion here (in your question), you are asking when the Pope became head of the Church of England. The Holy Father is the Vicar of Christ. Jesus is Head of the Catholic Church, and the Pope is his representative. So the Holy Father has always been the representative of Christ of the Church IN England, and never had anything to do with the Church OF England; the Church IN England, and the Church OF England are two entirely different things; the Church IN England is the Catholic Church; the Church OF England is a protestant Church:

from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957

The Church of England is the official name of the official established religion of the realm of England; it is a form of Protestantism that evolved and took shape from 1535 onwards, and was definitely established by an act of parliament called the Act of Uniformity, which took effect from June 24, 1559, and by the Act of Supremacy of the same year which denied the ecclesiastical supremacy of the Holy See and vested all English ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the Crown. The act of Uniformity imposed use of the second Prayer Book of Edward VI on the clergy and attendance at its service on the laity. The primatial see of Canterbury was vacant, but all the bishops except one refused compliance with these acts and their sees were declared vacant. A new hierarchy was then formed, from the bishops of which subsequent Anglican orders are derived. In 1563 the new church adopted certain articles of religion known as the Thirty-Nine Articles which confirmed its Protestant character and its dependence on the state; in practice, bishops of this church are nominated by the prime minster, who consults the ecclesiastical dignitaries. The Church of England is in possession of the buildings, properties and endowments which were provided for Catholic usages: the same is true of the Protestant Churches of Ireland and Wales, which are now disestablished, and of the Established Church of Scotland, which is presbyterian in organization

from Radio Replies, by Fathers Rumble and Carty, 1942

1269. I was taught by my parents that the Church of England has always been a distinct Church on its own right from the second century.

Your parents apparently belonged to that school of Anglicans which refuses to admit that the church of England originated only at the time of the Protestant Reformation. Those who belong to that school of thought persuade themselves that the present Anglican Church is one and the same as the Church which was established in England by the first Christian missionaries to that country. But this theory cannot stand the test of history.

1270. You insist that is originated at the time of the Protestant Reformation?

Yes, until the Reformation, England was a Catholic country. The first missionaries preached the Catholic religion, and were as subject to the Pope as I am. Henry VIII was a Catholic, and subject to the Pope until 1534, when he rebelled against the Catholic Church, left it, and made himself head of his own new Church within his own kingdom.

1271. Is your verdict historical?

It is the normal and correct verdict of the ordinary historian who judges simply in accordance with the facts, and who has no particular ecclesiastical theory to maintain. Thus Lecky, an agnostic, in his "History of England in the Eighteenth Century." says that the church of England was founded at the Reformation as an institution most intensely and distinctively English.

1272. The Church of England, then, is not one with the pre-Reformation Church in England?

No. If it were, it would still be subject to the Pope, one with the Catholic Church throughout the world, observing the same Canon Law, offering the same Sacrifice of the Mass, and teaching the same doctrines as those held by all Catholics today, whether in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, America, Australia, India, Africa, and elsewhere throughout the world. But on all points, doctrinal, devotional, and disciplinary, the Church of England is out of harmony with the Catholic Church. Any one who believes that the religion of England for over a thousand years prior to the Reformation was correct, has no option by to leave Anglicanism and return to the Catholic Church - as I myself did.

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14y ago

Henry VIII became Head of the English Catholic Church in 1534, or somewhere around that time. When the Pope refused to let him divorce (or annul as the English called it) Catherine of Aragon, he declared himself head of the English church, permitting him to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

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12y ago

Henry VIII Became head of the church of England in 1534

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13y ago

When she became Queen in 1952. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the temporal head of the Church of England.

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15y ago

1534

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4y ago

im answering ho she di lol im not getting my answer

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Q: When did Henry VIII become head of the Church of England?
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