I thought he would just be the head of the Church of England and though derived from, the Episcopal Church does not really answer to the Archbishop of Cantebury except for in a synergistic way........or am I wrong???????
Where do we begin....
I guess Charles and Camilla could simply give a large, undisclosed amount of money to the church in exchange for an "annulment" of their previous marriages from the bishop.
....... Henry the VIII pushed through legislation removing the Bishop of Rome's authority in England (a process that had begun in 1214) in order to ensure the succession to the throne. In order to avoid another civil war upon his death (remember, Henry's father, Henry VII, had ended the the Wars of the Roses), Henry needed an heir; in order to have an heir, Henry needed a wife who could provide him one; in order to get such a wife, he needed an annulment from his current one on the grounds that she could not provide an heir (usually granted by the Bishop of Rome after payment of a large sum of money). The problem was that Catherine's nephew, Emperor Charles V, had captured Rome and thrown Clement VII in jail. In another words, the politics of continental Europe were preventing England from establishing a stable succession.
Here we have the occupant of the Chair of St Peter, St Clement, Leo the Great, Gregory the Great, and Innocent III jailed by a member of his own flock. Who could blame Henry for wanting to get away from that mess?
....... Everytime I see the seasonal missilettte (sp?) being used in Roman Catholic churches, I remember that the man who championed the concept of printing the service and Scriptures in the vernacular language books so that the whole congregation could follow along and participate. That man was Archbishop Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury, who was burned at the stake for his reform by the Inquisition.
Okay...where do I start. The Episcopal church was founded in the late 1700's in America. It is part of the Anglican communion of churches. The Church of England is a separate church of that communion. There are Anglican churches in many countries and all are independent. They are not part of nor governed by the Church of England. The doctrinal head of the Anglican church is the Archbishop of Canterbury; a first among equals. But decisions are all arrived at by consensus.
As to your historical facts; Henry did not behead five wives. He beheaded two, divorced two; one died of natural causes, and one out-lived him. And his divorce from Katherine was part of a struggle power with Rome that had gone on for some time.
True enough.
At one time or another, there have been downright slugs at the helm of every denominational branch. Corrupt popes, corrupt Episcopalian leaders, corrupt Baptist leaders. Across the board, Christ's church has suffered from leaders that didn't treat her with the respect she deserved - but that has no bearing on the truth or falsity of Christianity.