By Chalien Dantes 

Almost every British schoolchild learns that Henry VIII, the bold Tudor king, broke from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 after the pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. 

In response, Henry established the Church of England, crowned himself its supreme head, divorced Catherine, and married Anne Boleyn, who famously lasted just three years before her execution for treason.

But Henry’s rebellion didn’t end there. He waged a ruthless campaign against Catholicism, ordering monasteries to be torn down, lands and treasures seized, priceless books burned, and countless priests, monks, and abbots put to death.

For centuries, Catholics in England and Scotland were forced to worship in secret. Even into the 1950s, mixed marriages between Catholics and Anglicans were socially taboo.

Fast forward nearly 500 years, and King Charles III has shared a prayer with Pope Leo XIV, which reflects a symbol of reconciliation between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England.

The era of suspicion and division is finally behind everyone. Not long ago, Catholics and Anglicans entering each other’s churches was unthinkable without sparking outrage. Today, this moment shows healing of old wounds.

Relations between the two faiths were once fraught with turmoil and violence. Queen Elizabeth I was branded a heretic and excommunicated in 1570. The infamous Gunpowder Plot of 1605, where Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, tried to blow up Parliament with King James I inside, left deep scars. The 1701 Act of Settlement banned Catholics or those married to Catholics from ascending to the throne.

But since the mid-20th century, ties between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church have warmed. Senior royals and archbishops regularly visit Rome, building bridges.

In 2013, restrictions eased slightly, allowing royal heirs to marry Catholics, though the monarch must remain Anglican. Earlier this year, King Charles and Queen Camilla made a private visit to Pope Francis shortly before his death. In September, Charles became the first monarch in five centuries to attend a Catholic mass publicly, attending the funeral of the Duchess of Kent, a Catholic convert.

From Henry VIII’s dramatic split to King Charles’s gesture of unity, centuries of division are finally giving way to newfound harmony.