This is an interesting insight we thought we'd share with you. We must remember that kings and other political leaders were believed to be appointed by Divine Right and were therefore viewed as just authorities to be obeyed. Even the evil King Henry VIII was a Catholic king and, at one point, an apologist. Up until very recently there have been practically no Catholics in England. King Henry VIII, once a Catholic king, turned against true Church teaching and destroyed the Church in England, but not without the complicity of most of the bishops and priests.

This weekend, I have been renting and watching, "The Tudors", Season 3. In Episodes 2 to 4, it chronicles, "The Pilgrimage of Grace." King Henry VIII destroyed hundreds of abbeys and Catholic churches to steal their possessions and gain more power for himself. At one point, the common Catholics in northern England were so distressed to see their churches destroyed that they organized themselves into a pilgrimage to ask the king to stop plundering their churches. The king lied and tricked them. The king had thousands of people killed, including women and children.

It is so poignant and important for us to remember how so many people have died for their churches.

May all the English martyrs, especially St. John Fisher, solitary bishop of England to stand up to King Henry VIII, pray for us.