Catholicity and Covenant has a good post that reminds us that although the office of Bishop of Rome was never primate of the historic English Church, Anglicanism rightly recognizes the Pope as the Patriarch of the West. All I would add is that perhaps it is through this recognition that a reunion of the Anglican and Roman communions might in the future unfold. I say this because whereas Papal primacy over the Anglican Communion is obviously in dispute, the Patriarchate is a historical fact. Reasonable people cannot regard “Patriarch of the West” contentiously, and so it would be a foundation for further discussion and therefore in and of itself would be unifying in some measure.
Further reading from Akenside Press:
“Henry VIII and the Anglican Church” (2-pg PDF)
