disestablishment

The formal separation of a church from the State by ceasing to recognize it as the official church of a country or province. The special status of the Church of Ireland, created by Henry VIII in 1541, was a major source of grievance to Irish Catholics in the 19th century and it was disestablished by Gladstone in 1869, with its endowments converted to charitable ends. In 1920, after a bitter struggle lasting over 50 years, the Welsh Anglican Church was disestablished as the Church in Wales; it gained its own archbishop and was detached from the province of Canterbury. There have been several attempts to disestablish the Church of England which would involve the abolition of the Royal Supremacy over the Church and the concomitant right of the Prime Minister to advise the Crown on episcopal appointments.