It was treason to deny the king's right to the title of
Supreme Governor of the Church in England; and though it be still
treason to deny it, a host to-day will gladly stand beside St Thomas
Becket and Blessed John Fisher of Rochester.
This quarrel need never have arisen had not Henry, perjured and
adulterous, desired to make the Pope his accomplice in putting away
his lawful wife in order that he might marry Anne Boleyn. Because the
Pope refused to aid him in this crime Henry destroyed the Catholic
Church in England, and he and his successors founded the so-called
Church of England, with himself as first Supreme Governor.
Among those who had most strenuously opposed the claim for divorce was
Blessed John Fisher of Rochester, and with equally unflinching
firmness he opposed the doctrine of the royal supremacy. He asserted
that "The acceptance of such a principle would cause the clergy of
England to be hissed out of the society of God's Holy Catholic
Church." He was right, his prophecy has come true, and he nearly won.
His opposition so far prevailed that a saving clause was added to the
oath of convocation, "so far as the law of God allows.
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