, in due course replies to this letter from his "devout and humble
son," as Edward describes himself. He begins by expressing his
satisfaction that His "most dear Son in Christ King Edward of England"
should thus "follow the commendable footsteps of your progenitors,
Kings of England who," he goes on to say, "were famous for the fulness
of their devotion and faith towards God and the Holy Roman Church".
Will the present Bishop of London, we wonder, be good enough to
explain how Pope Benedict XII. could possibly tell a renowned King of
England that his progenitors, that is to say, the Kings of England who
had preceded him, were famous--mark the word--"_famous_ for the
_fulness_ of their devotion and faith towards God _and the Holy Roman
Church_," if they were all the while cut off from the Roman Church,
and denounced as heretics by that Church, if, in short, they were of
one and the same faith as the Anglicans are to-day? We pause for a
reply. Of course we know that Anglicans are very hard pressed, and in
a quandary, and that some allowance must be made for drowning men when
they stretch forth their trembling hands to clutch at straws.
Pages:
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139