Topic: Catholic Martyrs
Question:
Do you know of any Catholics martyred by Protestants during the Reformation? Do you know which periods of history where Protestants were in power and persecuted or oppressed Catholics?
My husband has been reading an abridged version of Foxe's Book of Martyrs and it seems to only describe Protestants martyred by the Catholic Church during the Reformation.
Answer:
Well, there have been thousands of Catholic martyrs murdered at the hands of blood thirsty Protestants in the years following the Reformation. No serious student of history can ever dismiss this fact. Of course, many Catholic have been guilty of the same. So what does this prove? Not a heck of a lot actually.
Firstly, if by even asking the question, any Protestant wants to dismiss the Catholic Church's authority to teach, then I respectfully submit that he take the log out of his own eye.
Secondly, corporal/capital punishment by authentic ecclesiatical authority is quite biblical, actually, and to which the Old Testament (Exodus 32:24-35) and New Testament (Acts 5:5) clearly attest. If anything, it only points to the deficiency in the Protestant's ecclesiology since they must first establish that their particular denomination has that authority - which of course, they do not.
Thirdly, murder or any other vice, even by an ecclesiological one, does not annul their authority to teach. King David (murder) and the Pharisees (pride) were guilty of serious sins, but no man had the authority usurp them since they were God's anointed.
Now, to your specific question. There are a plethora of examples of Catholic martyrs throughout history at the hands of Protestant authorities. St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher, St. Edmund Campion, for instance, are the more famous ones in England.
Here are some brief remards from Dr. Art Sippo about the issue, including a few comments on Foxe's book:
"There are several Catholics murdered by prots actually. First of all, St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher, St. Robert Southworth, St. Margaret Clitherow, St. Edmund Campion, and the others comprising the 83 English and Welsh Martyrs. There were also many thousands killed in the 16th Century Western Rebellion in England when Catholics resisted the changes in the Mass forced on them by the crown. Fr. Philip Caraman, SJ recently wrote a book about this. There are numerous examples in Ireland during the penal times including St. Oliver Plunckett. And we should not forget the genocidal fury of Oliver Cromwell as he indiscriminantly slaughtered Catholics in Ireland. The controversy over prot parades through Catholic neighborhoods in Northern Ireland is linked to this. The prots are celebrating genocide. I consider those involved in such parades to be guilty of grave sin.
Recently, JPII canonized St. Jan Sarkander in Czechslovakia who was martyred by prots. The prot cults there were all upset about it but he did it anyway. There were many unsung martyrs in Deformation territories who have not been canonized.
As to Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Foxe was a low church type and was opposed to anyone persecuting anyone. He never documented the persectuion of Catholics because that was not his audience. But to his credit Foxe protested against the execution of St. Edmund Campion. Foxe's works are notorious for their inaccuracy and one-sidedness. His was an attempt at prot hagiography and at making it seem that the Early Church was a prot cult. I would treat anything it says with at grain of salt. The British scholar David M. Loades has collected 2 anthologies about Foxe and his book:
John Foxe : An Historical
Perspective
John Foxe and the English Reformation (St. Andrews Studies in
Reformation History)
These give a better perspective on Foxe from the perspective of modern scholarship."
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Now, in addition to these, there are plenty of other examples, not counting the Orthodox persecution of the Catholic Church in Russia and the Ukraine during the Soviet Era. Another instance I came across recounted a story of faithful Swedish Catholics known as the "Martyrs of Gorkum" who were butchered at Calvinist hands under the reign of King Christian III. What was their crime? They were worshipping the Eucharist.
By the way, I recommend you watch the Academy Award Winning 60's movie "A Man for All Seasons", which shows what St. Thomas More was up against when he refused to bend the knee to a King as the Head of the Church. The movie is widely accessible and should be available at your local video store.
John Pacheco
The Catholic Legate
September 20, 2001