WI: Church of England develops differently

Rather than the Protestant tilt the Church took during the reign of Edward VI and Elizabeth, what if the Church of England remained, essentially, an autocephalous Catholic Church (as it was under Henry VIII), largely still accepting the tenets of the faith agreed upon by Rome but giving final authority over the Church to the King of England?

What would the effect here be on the history of the world, on Ireland, and on England? Would the Church of England eventually fold back into the Catholic Church at an indeterminant point in the future?
 
The problem is, Henry VIII broke the system when he separated from the Catholic church. Without a King or Queen submitting BACK to the pope you'll never see England align back with the Catholic Church. By Edward and Elizabeth there is far wider support of Protestantism so a slide back is unlikely.

However if Mary I produces an heir (preferably male) or doesn't die so young and can find a good Catholic heir (likely after beheading Elizabeth) then the brief 'flirt with Protestantism' will be just that.

Expect closer ties with Europe, greater levels of absolute rule. Without greater Protestantism we might also avoid an English Civil War, or at least a Parliamentary win (with a lot more concentrated power in the Royalists, Republicans tended to be more Protestant than Catholic hence have less power and less ability to rebel).

Also, God forbid, maybe a HAPSBURG ENGLAND.
 
The problem is, Henry VIII broke the system when he separated from the Catholic church. Without a King or Queen submitting BACK to the pope you'll never see England align back with the Catholic Church. By Edward and Elizabeth there is far wider support of Protestantism so a slide back is unlikely.

However if Mary I produces an heir (preferably male) or doesn't die so young and can find a good Catholic heir (likely after beheading Elizabeth) then the brief 'flirt with Protestantism' will be just that.

Expect closer ties with Europe, greater levels of absolute rule. Without greater Protestantism we might also avoid an English Civil War, or at least a Parliamentary win (with a lot more concentrated power in the Royalists, Republicans tended to be more Protestant than Catholic hence have less power and less ability to rebel).

Also, God forbid, maybe a HAPSBURG ENGLAND.

TBH I'm not convinced about the "more Catholic = more absolutist" view. Catholic England had done a good job of limiting monarchs' arbitrary power before the Reformation; the Reformation removed a major institutional counterweight to the King's authority; and in the short term at least, the state apparatus required to stamp out any pro-Catholic leanings made England far more of a police state than she had been previously.

Whilst IOTL there was too much Protestant sentiment by Elizabeth's death to make a return to Catholicism plausible, ITTL actual Protestants would most likely make up a smaller, and certainly a less politically influential, segment of the population. A "Western Orthodox" England might possibly reunify with Rome (though if it did, it would probably be like the Church in France, where the King in practice runs the Church anyway), but this would still be quite hard to achieve: the Eastern Orthodox Churches still haven't after nearly a thousand years. Then again, given that England would still be a part of the Latin West rather than the Greek East, an Anglican-Catholic reunion might be an easier proposition than a Greek Orthodox-Catholic one.
 
Maybe if England weren't unique in having an autocephelous church with Catholic doctrines, the model might prove more stable. Charles V and Francis II also had quarrels of their own with the Papacy, including such moments as Charles's troops sacking Rome in 1527.
 
Top