Page "Anglican Communion" Paragraph 74

The Anglican Communion is a relatively recent concept.

The Church of England ( which until the 20th century included the Church in Wales ) initially separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1538 in the reign of King Henry VIII, reunited in 1555 under Queen Mary I and then separated again in 1570 under Queen Elizabeth I ( the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated Elizabeth I in 1570 in response to the Act of Supremacy 1559 ).

The Church of England has always thought of itself not as a new foundation but rather as a reformed continuation of the ancient " English Church " ( Ecclesia Anglicana ) and a reassertion of that church's rights.

As such it was a distinctly national phenomenon.

The Church of Scotland separated from the Roman Catholic Church with the Scottish Reformation in 1560, and the split from it of the Scottish Episcopal Church began in 1582, in the reign of James VI of Scotland, over disagreements about the role of bishops.