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Q: How has its status as an official national Church affected the Church of England, for good or ill?
~ Sarah
Dear Sarah:
It is an interesting question you are raising also on the background of the recent apostolic trip of the Holy Father to the United Kingdom as well as given the ongoing discussion in many countries on the subject of the so-called seapartion of church and state.
In recent years there has been a movement in the United Kingdom to repeal the Act of Settlement of 1701 which prevents Catholics from sitting on the throne, or from even marrying the monarch. As you probably know, one of the key links in making the Church of England a national Church is the monarchy, since the reigning king or queen is also the head of the Church of England.
In dealing with this topic, it should be noted that the Church of England is not my area of expertise, and that any knowledge I have comes from material I have read, rather than studied.
The movement to repeal the Act of Settlement is part of a movement to 'disestablish' the Church of England, that is, remove its status as a national Church, and the movement seems to have support both inside and outside the Church, and, some claim, even within the royal family itself. Prince Charles, the future king, is reported to have said that he wishes to be known as 'defender of faith', that is, all faiths, rather than by the traditional title of 'defender of the faith', which is seen as an exclusively Anglican reference (although its origins were actually papal).
The Church of England is bound to the state in other ways. Twenty-six Church of England bishops sit in the House of Lords, the Upper Chamber of the British Parliament, and their spiritual leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is appointed by the British prime minister, usually from a short list presented to him by a crown appointments commission.
It is this aspect of the Church of England - the fact that its spiritual head is appointed by a representative of the state - that is perhaps of most interest to Roman Catholics. As Catholics we believe that St. Peter, our first Pope, was appointed by Christ himself to be spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, and that all our subsequent Popes, in direct and unbroken succession from Peter, retain the spiritual authority given to Peter by Christ himself, as indicated in the following passage of Sacred Scripture:
"And I tell thee this in my turn, that thou art Peter, and it is upon this rock that I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt 16: 18-20)
We believe that the apostles, and subsequently all the bishops of our Church through their ordination, received special teaching authority from Christ himself, which our bishops continue to exercise today under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and in communion with the successor of St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI. Catholic doctrine in every area , which is clearly defined and accessible to all members through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is expected to be adhered to by all the faithful.
The Church of England, however, is a decentralized Church with thirty-eight ecclesiastical provinces throughout the world, where local synods and bishops seem to have been given a degree of autonomy, even in areas touching on doctrine, which would not be acceptable in Roman Catholicism. Most recently, to give one example, the bishop and synod of New Westminster, B.C., voted to provide a blessing for same-sex unions, despite disapproval from many quarters in the worldwide Church.
Some Church of England members argue that a national Church was needed four hundred years ago as part of, what they considered, a necessary defence against Catholicism - to protect the Reformation, so to speak - but that today the Church should be able to stand on its own. Others argue that the Church's official status is still important, not in the fight against Catholicism, but to counteract the growing secularization of society. Some of these same people argue that representatives of Catholicism and other religions should be permitted to join their Church of England counterparts in parliament's Upper Chamber, and thus help preserve and maintain religion's important role in society. Others, though, feel that the Church, like Christ, should not be tied to any worldly authority, and see disestablishment as a kind of purification.
The question you ask is phrased like a university or college assignment, and if it is, you will need to examine the historical relationship between the church and state over the last four hundred years, and that is a little more than we can help you with here. Right now, however, there are lots of discussion papers on the Internet due to current movements to disestablish the Church, and this should be of some help to you. You might want to check out the archives of the British newspaper, 'The Guardian,' which has a considerable coverage of the topic, always remembering that this newspaper has been leading the movement for the repeal of the Act of Settlement.
God bless,
Father Norbert