Subj : =?UTF-8?Q?December_29th_=E2=80=93_St=2E_Thomas_Becket?= To : All From : rich Date : Fri Dec 28 2018 07:58:27 From: rich December 29th =E2=80=93 St. Thomas Becket In Catholic Morals, there is a principle: Nemo summus fit repente =E2=80=93 nothing very bad or very good happens suddenly. For a great evil to occur, there should be a whole series of actions that precede and prepare for it. This principle, which applies to the moral life of an individual, is also true in the history of nations, civilizations and cycles of culture. The life of St. Thomas Becket and the events that occurred after his death illustrates well how a long preparation is made for momentous historical events. Such an event =E2=80=93 undoubtedly one of the most sad and shameful episod= es of the History of the Church =E2=80=93 took place in the 16th century when = a massive number of English Catholics changed from the Catholic Religion to Protestantism. King Henry VIII wanted a divorce from Queen Catherine of Aragon, and the Pope would not agree to it. In 1534, The King broke with Rome and proclaimed himself the head of the Church in England. After his rupture with Rome became definitive, only a very small number of Catholics remained faithful to the Church. Two of the most illustrious were St. John Fisher, a Cardinal, and St. Thomas More, a layman. But the great majority of Catholics scandalously and shamefully switched religions. Entire monasteries and convents, countless priests and nuns, whole institutions, universities, and works of charity entered the new sect without any apparent remorse. How can one explain a fact like that? The English process that culminated with this separation from Rome began in the 12th century with the fight between St. Thomas Becket and King Henry II regarding the interference of the Crown in ecclesiastical affairs. A dispute between Kings and Popes on this topic already existed in that time. The Kings wanted the Catholic English Hierarchy to obey them and accept their appointments to ecclesiastical offices. The Popes, basing themselves on the divine institution of the Church, defended the Church's right to full dominion over spiritual matters, in particular over Bishops and the faithful. The Pope has direct and immediate power over every Bishop and each one of the faithful on earth. Therefore, also over the English Bishops. The Pope's power to choose and direct Bishops displeased a certain English current of thinking that sustained the opposite. According to it, the Pope should exercise only a weak and indirect authority over the English Bishops, while the King should have a full and direct power over them. Behind this question was a higher struggle of principles at stake. The central question in the realm of principles, rather than concrete cases was this: Should the temporal or spiritual sphere have the greater power? Should the temporal sphere obey the spiritual, or vice-verse? In the absolute order of things, those who defended the King's righ= ts over the English Bishops were sustaining that earthly and temporal things have more importance than religious matters, and the latter should be an instrument for the realization of the former. For this party, the end of the life of man is not heaven, but life on this earth. Therefore, the representative of the State and temporal interests should have supremacy over the Church. In final analysis, for those who took this position, religion would be nothing more than a useful myth to keep order among the people. It would not be a revealed, objective, and absolute ensemble of truths. On the other hand, those who believed in the Church's supremacy supported the principle affirming that things of this life exist for eternal life. It is true that the State has to deal with temporal matters. But it is also true that the State is meant to help the Church accomplish her mission. Therefore, in ecclesiastical matters, the Church has the full right and entire power to govern herself. Further, should sin be involved in a temporal affair, the Church has the right to intervene to halt its advance. In such a case, the Church has power over the State. More clearly affirmed, the State does not have the right to promulgate laws and establish institutions that are against the law of Christ. This notion of the supremacy of the State over the Church that was adopted early on by English Kings, as well as by Kings of other countries, was designated by the Church as a grave error: Regalism. It is a revolutionary position with the same root as the modern errors of Laicism and Materialism. In the 12th century, St. Thomas Becket clashed with King Henry II because St. Thomas sustained that the Pope and English Bishops could not accept the jurisdiction of the King over them. St. Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first see of England. He was, therefore, the kingdom's most important religious authority. He als= o was a brilliant man who had been chancellor of England before he was made Archbishop. These characteristics help us understand the enormous influence he had. His strong opposition to the King's position greatly embarrassed He= nry II, who exiled him for some considerable time. He returned to England, however, and continued to attack the erroneous policy of Henry II. Soon after his return, four agents of the King violated the sanctuary of Canterbury Cathedral and murdered St. Thomas Becket at the altar on December 29, 1170. What were the consequences of this act? A large part of the English people took the side of St. Thomas Becket and became indignant with the King. A cult grew up immediately and people flocked on pilgrimages to the site. It reached the point that the King felt the need to make public penance before the sepulcher of St. Thomas Becket and ask forgiveness of God for what had happened. But it is also true that a good part of the leading classes =E2=80=93 the clergy, high nobles, intellectuals and magistrates =E2=80=93 continued to support the King=E2=80= =99s position and to sustain that St. Thomas Becket had acted imprudently. That is, they supported the false principle that the power of the State is superior to that of the Church. The result was that as time passed, the State gradually invaded the religious sphere. The English ecclesiastics were either complacent with such doctrine or fearful of defending the correct doctrine. So this deleterious process continued. Three hundred years later England was still Catholic, but its Catholicity was so superficial that it was possible to throw down the Church in England as easily as one fells a tree whose roots are rotted away by termites. With a single blow, it falls to the ground. This is what happened with the Catholic Church in England.... When a termite enters a piece of wood, it gnaws at it from within, leaving the external appearance. The wood appears normal to anyone looking at it. But if he puts pressure on the wood, the exterior layer breaks open and reveals the work of the worms eating away at the interior. The same is happening today with the religious edifice. There is still an exterior finish of orthodoxy, but if one pushes against it, he finds that everything is being corrupted by Progressivism, which is the Revolution inside the Catholic Church. I have summarized for you here some historical laws. They are not laws that apply invariably to every situation, but they explain how an analogous process unfolds in many cases. These are considerations drawn from the life of St. Thomas Becket. By the late Prof. Plinio Corr=C3=AAa de Oliveira: (died 1995) Saint Quote: Blessed the one who continually remembers the fear of Gehenna and hastens with tears and groans to repent sincerely in the Lord, for he will be delivered from the great tribulation. --St. Ephrem of Syria Bible Quote: =C2 And in doing good, let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap, not failing. [Galatians 6:9] DRB <><><><> The Shepherd, slain in the midst of his flock, purchaseth peace at the price of his blood. O joyful mourning, O mournful joy! The Shepherd dead, new life is in the Flock! The Mother speaks, through her tears, the praises of her Son, for still he lives, the conqueror of the sword. Hail, O Thomas! sceptre of justice, light of the earth, strong champion of the Church, beloved of the people, favourite of the clergy! Hail, admirable keeper of the Flock! keep in safety all us who rejoice in glory. --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .