The Pope is not only the religious leader on earth of the Catholic Church: he is also a head of state. For centuries there had been many disputes between kings and bishops, Popes and Emperors, especially as bishops were also great landowners and ministers of the Crown. In 1521 Henry VIII wrote a book against Luther, for which Pope Leo X gave him the title (still on British coins as ‘F.D.’) of ‘Defender of the Faith’. But St Thomas More, who was later beheaded for supporting the authority of the Pope, thought that Henry had been too enthusiastic in his account of it. ‘The Pope is a prince, as you are’, he said: ‘it may hereafter fall out that your Grace and he may vary’. In 1535, after Henry had declared himself Supreme Head of the Church in England, Pope Paul III excommunicated him (deprive of the right of Church membership) and declared him deposed. There was a theory that a pope, as head of the Christian commonwealth, could do this to an unjust king—though such a change of regime could only be effective if another king was willing and able to enforce it by invasion. In this case it was not effective, though there are still reminders of the threat in the castles which Henry built to defend the harbours along the south coast.

Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

In 1570 Pope St Pius V excommunicated Henry’s younger daughter Elizabeth I and declared her deposed for her suppression of Catholicism in England. But Philip II of Spain was not going to invade England in order to replace Elizabeth (who was his sister-in-law and whom he had offered to marry himself) by the next heir, Mary Queen of Scots, who was half-French. In 1580 Pius V’s successor Gregory XIII had suspended the bull because of representations by English Catholics about the impossible situation that it left them in. In 1587 Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded, leaving her claim to the English throne, not to her son James VI of Scotland but to Philip II. In 1588 the Spanish Armada attempted to invade England but was defeated by a combination of fire-ships and storms. Almost all English Catholics supported Elizabeth, and even Pope Sixtus V doubted whether it would be beneficial for the Church if the Armada succeeded, since Philip regarded himself as a sort of vice-Pope for his own vast domains on both sides of the Atlantic. Nevertheless, the bull of 1570 had still not been withdrawn, and the Elizabethan government tried to entrap prisoners by what was called the ‘Bloody Question’: if the Pope, for the restoration of the Catholic religion, invaded England, or authorised some other ruler to do so, whose side would you fight on?

The Gunpowder Plot (1605)

In 1603 Elizabeth died and James VI of Scotland succeeded her as James I of England. Although James was a Protestant, he had never, unlike Elizabeth, been a Catholic. Pope Paul V therefore ordered English Catholics to give their support to James, who for his part suspended the laws against Catholics and began negotiations to end the war with Spain. But after only a year the laws were reimposed, and in November 1605 they were apparently justified by the Gunpowder Plot. This left a lasting impression that Catholics could not be loyal subjects. It was celebrated by a special service for 5 November, which included a prayer against ‘our cruel Popish enemies who delight in blood’ and was in use until it was suppressed by Queen Victoria in 1856.

The Stuarts

In the later years of James I (d. 1625) and under his son Charles I the persecution of Catholics eased; in the 1630s there were even Papal agents in London and discussions about possible reunion. During the Civil Wars (1642-48) many Catholics fought for the King; in 1651 his son Charles II owed his life after the Battle of Worcester to the priest-holes in Catholic houses. He never forgot this and after his restoration in 1660 did what he could to protect the Catholics. James I, Charles I and Charles II all had Catholic wives; Charles II became a Catholic on his deathbed, and his brother James II (1685-88) was already a Catholic when he succeeded. But in 1688 he was removed and replaced by his Protestant daughter and son-in-law William III and Mary II. An Act of 1689 provided that no one who was a Catholic or married to one could be sovereign.

The Hanoverians (1714-1830)

In 1714, Mary II’s sister, Queen Anne, was succeeded by a distant cousin, George I from Hanover, though most Catholics still regarded James II’s son (‘James III’) as the lawful king. But when ‘James III’ died in 1766, the Pope refused to recognise his son (‘Bonnie Prince Charlie) as ‘Charles III’; and Charles’s brother, the ‘Duke of York’ who would have become ‘Henry IX’ in 1788, was a cardinal. By then Catholics had accepted George III as the rightful king, a sentiment encouraged by the Catholic Relief Acts of 1778 and 1791. In 1829, by the Catholic Emancipation Act, Catholics recovered most of the rights enjoyed by other British subjects—though the sovereign can still not be, or marry, a Catholic.

Let us pray

For the Pope

God our Father, shepherd and guide,
look with love on Benedict, your servant,
the pastor of your Church.
May his word and example inspire and guide the Church,
and may he, and all those entrusted to his care,
come to the joy of everlasting life.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

To do

Visit a Catholic heritage building, e.g. the ruins of an abbey, house with priest-hole or an old pre-reformation church of Cathedral. Pray regularly for the well-being and needs of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and her family.

This was written in 2010 by a member of the catechetical team at The Maryvale Institute.

The post Catholicism and the Monarchy appeared first on The Papal Visit .

Until the 1530s, the Church in this country, as in the rest of Western Europe, was under the final authority of the Pope, and its doctrine and worship were Catholic. When Henry VIII failed to persuade Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, he had himself declared Supreme Head of the Church in England and closed down all the monasteries—though he continued to regard himself as a Catholic. After a brief experiment with Protestantism under his son Edward VI (1547-53) and a brief return to Catholicism under his elder daughter Mary I (1555-58), England officially became Protestant in 1559 under his younger daughter Elizabeth I (1558-1603). Except under the Catholic James II (1685-88), Catholicism remained illegal for the next 232 years.

‘Penal Times’

Catholicism survived mostly in secret congregations centred on the country houses of Catholic peers and gentry. Priests had to be trained and ordained abroad, at Douai, in Rome and elsewhere, and on returning to England they were liable to imprisonment. From about 1580 to 1680 they also risked execution, as did those who harboured them. Of those who died in this way, or earlier for refusing to swear that Henry VIII was Head of the Church, forty-two now have the title of Saint and another 242 that of Blessed. Government policy fluctuated from time to time, so that most of the executions were between 1580 and 1610, with another batch at the time of the Civil War and Commonwealth (1642-60) and a third at the time of the Oates Plot (1678-81). Catholics were also liable to fines for not attending Protestant services (‘recusancy’), but with the collusion of conforming cousins and brothers-in-law most of them managed to evade either conviction or payment.

Country-House Chapels

Catholic houses had secret chapels and rooms for the priests on the top floor and hiding-places (‘priest-holes’) where priests could be hidden during searches. The best-known builder of priest-holes was (Saint) Nicholas Owen, who died in the Tower under torture in 1606. The best surviving series of them is at Harvington Hall, near Kidderminster in Worcestershire; others can be seen at, among other houses, Ufton Court, near Reading; Scotney Old Castle in Kent; Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk; Thurnham Hall near Lancaster; Baddesley Clinton and Coughton Court in Warwickshire; and Boscobel House and Moseley Old Hall near Wolverhampton. The hides at the last two were also used by King Charles II during his escape after the Battle of Worcester in 1651 and so are unusually well documented.

The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

After 1610 or so the executions tailed off, and from 1623 onwards there was a Catholic Chapel Royal in London, since Charles I (1625-49) married a Catholic princess. During the Civil War and Commonwealth Catholics suffered both for religion and for royalism. But Charles II (1660-85) also had a Catholic wife; after the Oates Plot there were no more executions, and in the eighteenth century there was much social acceptance of Catholics. In London, they freely used the Embassy chapels of the Catholic powers, as well as less splendid settings for worship. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), the leading poet of his age, was entertained by peers and bishops and at the court of the Prince of Wales. George III gave permission to erect an (illegal) chapel to his friend Mr Thomas Weld of Lulworth in Dorset; in 1785 the King’s eldest son, later George IV, secretly married Weld’s widowed sister – law, Mrs Fitzherbert. In 1767 there were about 80,000 Catholics in England (about 1% of the population). Though excluded from Parliament, magistracies, military and naval commissions and the universities, they included lawyers, doctors, bankers, distillers, ironmasters, potters, cotton-spinners, promoters of canals and providers of coaching services and post-horses.

The Nineteenth Century

After Catholic worship became legal in 1791, most of the country-house chapels were closed and the missions moved to the nearest towns, following the shifts of population caused by the Industrial Revolution. So Catholic churches are now mostly in cities and towns and date from the last two hundred years. For a survey of them, see A Glimpse of Heaven by Christopher Martin & Alex Ramsey (English Heritage, 2006). At the same time, because of the French Revolution, the English colleges and monasteries on the Continent moved back to England. By the Emancipation Act of 1829 Catholics recovered most of the rights enjoyed by their fellow-citizens. In the 1840s they were much augmented by Irish immigration after the Famine and by Tractarian converts from the Church of England, who included the future Cardinals Newman and Manning.

Bishops

After 1559 there were no Catholic bishops at large in England, except from 1623 to 1631, when there was one for the whole country. In 1688 four missionary bishops (‘Vicars Apostolic’) were appointed for the London, Midland, Northern and Western Districts. The most famous of them was Richard Challoner (1691-1781), who used the Sardinian Embassy Chapel in London as what amounted to his cathedral. The Vicars Apostolic were increased to eight in 1840 and replaced by a normal hierarchy of an archbishop (Westminster) and twelve bishops in 1850. This change provoked violent protests on the grounds that it was ‘Papal Aggression’, and in 1851 a short-lived Act was passed forbidding the use of English ecclesiastical titles by Catholic bishops. Since then other dioceses have been created, and there are now five archbishops (Westminster, Birmingham, Liverpool, Cardiff and Southwark), of whom the first four are the successors of the four original Vicars Apostolic.

Prayer for Christian unity

Heavenly Father,
you have called us in the Body of your Son Jesus Christ
to continue his work of reconciliation
and reveal you to the world:
forgive us the sins which tear us apart;
give us the courage to overcome our fears
and to seek that unity which is your gift and your will;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

To read

A Glimpse of Heaven by Christopher Martin & Alex Ramsey (English Heritage, 2006).

Reformation in England by Raymond Edwards published by the Catholic Truth Society

To Do

Visit some of the houses mentioned above to see the priest holes and experience what it must have been like to live with that kind of fear – something that Christians of all traditions in many parts of the world still have to do.

This was written by a member of the catechetical team at The Maryvale Institute.

The post History of the Catholic Church appeared first on The Papal Visit .

The Pope is a follower of Jesus Christ and although he is coming to the UK as a Head of State (The Holy See – the Vatican), the primary purpose of his visit is to share the Good News that God loves us unconditionally and is merciful. It’s this reality – of God’s love and mercy – that is his primary message and is one that lies at the heart of the Catholic Faith. Visit our section on Pope Benedict XVI.

What is a Catholic?

Catholics are Christians, this means that they are followers of Jesus Christ. They believe Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, the Son of God, their friend, liberator, Lord and Saviour. Catholics believe that Jesus Christ set up the Church (Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 16, verse 18) to pass on the fullness of his teaching, his life, and to carry on his work.

A family

Catholic means universal. There are over one billion people worldwide who are members of the Catholic Church which was founded by Jesus Christ in the first century AD. It is made up of a large family of people from every race, colour and social background, who share a common vision and beliefs. Whatever part of the world they live in, they are in communion (united) with one another in a special way through their leaders who they believe to be chosen and appointed by God.

Church

‘Church’ means the gathering of the people of God. The church building is the focal point for Catholic community gatherings, and is a place where friendships are made and lives shared. People gather there to pray, and to learn about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The ‘sacraments’ are a very important part of Church life. These are God-given spiritual channels through which life flows. The ‘Eucharist’ is a very special sacrament. When Catholics come together to celebrate ‘Mass’ they share a holy meal and believe that through it they are fed, under the appearance of bread and wine, the Body and Blood of Christ. During the Mass a miracle takes place. When the priest says a special prayer over the bread, it is changed by God’s power, so that Jesus is present in it in a unique way. Though it still looks like bread, Jesus’ living presence is there, and this is what Catholics call ‘Holy Communion’ because they are united with God when they receive it. The seven sacraments are: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony and Holy Orders.

Leaders

The Catholic Church takes care of its community through a network of leaders, teachers and helpers. The head of the Catholic Church worldwide is Pope Benedict XVI. Locally, the Church is led by bishops and priests.

Jesus’ teaching

Jesus taught that we should love our neighbour as ourselves (Mark’s Gospel, chapter 12, verse 31). Catholics try to put this into practice and find it to be a life-giving and fulfilling way to live. They are involved in a wide variety of charitable works such as running hostels for the homeless and caring for the elderly.

Some of the core parts of Jesus’ teaching are:

• God loves us
• Believing in him is the way to true freedom, peace and happiness
• We should love God and one another, especially the poor and needy
• Our messes, mistakes and wrongs can be put right – we can be forgiven and know peace
• We can be healed from deep wounds and hurts by calling on the name of Jesus
• If we believe in Jesus we will inherit eternal life and live with him in heaven

Your choice

Jesus has many amazing things to offer you and those you love. His life and message is about wholeness, love and freedom. Jesus will not force you to get to know him and receive all the good things on offer. You are free to choose. It is up to you… What is your choice going to be?

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