Friday, February 24, 2017

Historical background

Britain used to be a Roman Catholic country under the authority of the Pope in Rome. The church in England

was, then, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1533, during the reign of Henry VIII, England broke from

the Roman Catholic Church to form the Anglican Church, but why? King Henry VIII wanted a son and his

wife only gave birth to daughters. He wanted divorce and asked the Pope for permission, but the Pope refused.

Henry VIII decided to make his own church. He created the Anglican Church and became leader of the Church

of England. He had the Bible translated to English and the people who believed in this new religion were called

Protestants (Anglicans).

In 1553, Mary became Queen. She changed the country back to Catholicism and burned Protestants who

wouldn't change.

In 1558, Elizabeth I became Queen. She changed the church back to Anglicanism.

The historical dominance of Christianity led to its full institutionalization. Christianity is the established

religion of the UK. Today much of this has been changed, but some oddities still remain. The Sovereign holds

the title Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Britain is the only country in

the democratic world that allows clerics to sit in its legislature. Bishops still sit in the House of Lords. There are

many examples of the relationship between the established Church and the State. Archbishops and bishops are

appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister, who considers the names selected by a Church

Commission. They take an oath of allegiance to The Queen on appointment and may not resign without Royal

authority.

The official religion of England is Christianity, as practised by the Church of England (Anglican Church). The

Church in Wales is also Anglican. In Scotland, the Church is Presbyterian. These are Protestant Churches.

In the UK, there are other non-protestant Christians like the Roman Catholics, the Methodists, the Presbyterians,

the Baptists.

No comments:

Post a Comment