For no one would be found to
admit such a claim. It may be said that this is of no great
importance. It may not be in itself, but it is the straw which shows
the way the wind blows; and clearly proves that the verdict of the
entire world and the chief centres of Christendom is against
continuity.
Let us take another "straw". Before the pseudo-Reformation there were
Cardinals exercising authority in the Church in England. Some of them
even became famous. There was, for instance, Cardinal Stephen Langton,
who was Primate of England, and who brought together the Barons, and
forced the Great Charter from King John. There, amongst the signatures
to that famous document we find the name of a Roman Cardinal. From the
time of Stephen Langton to the time of Cardinal Fisher in the
sixteenth century there was a long succession of Cardinals in England,
all of whom were members of the Church in England. From the time of
Cardinal Robert Pullen to that of Cardinal John Fisher there were no
fewer than twenty-two Roman Cardinals belonging to that Church. How is
it that during those thousand years the English Church could have and
actually did have Cardinals, up to the time of the so-called
Reformation, but never since? How is it that such a thing has ceased
to be possible? Clearly because it is no longer the same Church.
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