The Church of England

Westminister Abbey stands in the heart of London, next to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

It is the burial place of statesmen, and poets. Kings and Queens are crowned there. It is one of the oldest institutions of the Church of England.

Five minutes walk away is Westminister Cathedral, the huge, red-brick cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church-hidden behind a modern department store, but solemn and awe-inspiring when you enter it.

The Roman Catholic cathedrals of England are all relatively modern. This is bacuse until law was changed in 1829, the Roman Catholic Church was not allowed to build any. The offical religion of the country was, and still is Anglicanism (Church of England).

But, in actual fact, almost all the Cathedrals in the country were originally Catholic. They were built before the 16th Century.

The Church of England only came into existence in the year 1534. King Henry VIII decided that the Pope in Rome, in alliance with the King of Spain, was beginning to have too much influence over English affairs.

Henry VIII wanted to terminate his marriage to Catherine of Aragon his Spanish wife. The Pope, as head of the Church, refused to give him permission. So Henry broke away from the Church of Rome, made himself head of the Church of England. And gave himself permission to divorce Catherine.