what is the oldest catholic church in england
St Etheldreda's Church For many years, St Etheldreda's church was the oldest Roman Catholic church building in England, but since 1971 it has been surpassed by the 12th century church of Ss Leonard & Mary in Malton, North Yorkshire.
Catholic Church in England and Wales The English Church was brought back under papal authority in 1553 and doctrinal and liturgical conformity at the beginning of the reign of Queen Mary I.[11] The restoration of papal authority was celebrated by the majority of the nation[citation needed] and enforced by the Marian persecutions against Protestants. Her harshness was a success but at the cost of alienating a fairly large section of English society which had been moving away from some traditional Catholic devotional practices. The English it seems were quite caught up with the reforming movement on the Continent. At the time they were neither Calvinist nor Lutheran, but certainly leaning toward Protestantism (and by the late 16th century, were certainly Protestant).[12]