Written by C.Huxley for Catholic Unscripted
Hidden within the Sovereign Grant Report (2025-26) published last week is the following sentence: ‘His Majesty is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and protects the space for Faith within the multi-faith nation.’ This marks a dramatic shift from previous reports, which only mentioned his formal role as ‘Head of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith’.
It might be easy for Catholics to dismiss such a change on the grounds that the title itself is a counterfeit of the original title ‘Fidei Defensor’ given to King Henry VIII by Pope Leo X in recognition of his theological treatise ‘Assertio Septem Sacramentorum’ (Defence of the Seven Sacraments) in 1521. This was a passionate defence of the supremacy of the Pope and Catholic doctrine against Martin Luther. Just 15 years later, in an attempt to validate his new marriage to Anne Boleyn, he issued Ten Articles, which recognised only Baptism, the Eucharist and Penance as sacraments, conveniently leaving out Matrimony. A utilitarian work-around that contradicted his earlier scholarly work.