Almost every English schoolchild is taught that King Henry the Eighth, the confident Tudor-era king motivated by lust and his quest for an heir, separated from the Roman Catholic church in 1534 when the pope refused to annul his marriage with his first wife.
The king created the Anglican Church, appointed himself as its highest authority, divorced his queen and wed his next wife (she remained only 36 months prior to she was beheaded for treason).
The monarch did not stop there. He initiated conflict on Catholicism, commanding monasteries to be demolished, land and valuables confiscated, books and documents burned, as well as clergy members executed.
For hundreds of years, followers of Catholicism across Britain were prohibited from openly worshipping. Up until the mid-20th century, mixed marriages between Catholics and Anglicans were discouraged.
Today, nearly five hundred years after the Tudor king's historic separation, the current monarch, Charles the Third, has prayed together with Pope Leo XIV beneath the magnificent paintings of the Sistine Chapel in an act of reconciliation between the Roman Catholic church and the Church of England.
“The age of distrust between faiths really is now over,” Jamie Hawkey, an ecclesiastical scholar from the historic abbey, stated.
“In the past, it was not possible for members of both churches to enter one another’s churches without causing great offence. This is a moment when history are witnessed to be healed.”
Turmoil, violence and antagonism characterised the relationship between Catholics and Anglicans for centuries. The Tudor queen was labeled an unbeliever and expelled by Pope Pius V during the 16th century.
During that era, a plot by Catholic conspirators such as Guy Fawkes to destroy the British legislature with the monarch present was thwarted.
The 1701 Act of Settlement confirmed a prohibition against a Catholic or anyone married to a Catholic succeeding to the throne.
However since the middle of the last century, relations between Anglicans and the Roman Catholic church have thawed, with regular visits to Rome by senior royals and church leaders.
In 2013, the Succession to the Crown Act eased limitations on royal heirs marrying Catholics, even though the sovereign must still be an Anglican.
Earlier this year, King Charles and Queen Camilla undertook a discreet trip to Pope Francis days before his death. And in September, the king was the first monarch in 500 years to be present at a Catholic mass while participating in the funeral of the Duchess of Kent, who embraced the Catholic faith.
The past 60 years had seen an “extraordinary rediscovery of our common roots”, noted Hawkey, while acknowledging that major differences persisted.
“This country has a long history of challenges with the Vatican, of friction dating back to the religious split,” Catherine Pepinster observed.
“We have traveled a very long way … yet previously we haven’t seen the highest leader of the Church of England – namely, the king – kneeling in prayer with the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.”
