Posted on 04/19/2009 3:50:25 PM PDT by Steelfish
April 20, 2009
The Pope’s gift for Charles and Camilla — his view on divorce
Richard Owen, Rome
It may be an unfortunate accident or a piece of mischievous theatre. Either way, the Prince of Wales will need all his regal sang-froid when he tears off the wrapping of his gift from the Pope next week.
When the Prince presents the Duchess of Cornwall to Benedict XVI as his wife for the first time, he will receive a gift that may strike an unwelcome chord: a “luxury facsimile” of the 1530 appeal by English peers to Pope Clement VII asking for the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
It is intended as a gesture to help to heal five centuries of schism between Rome and the Church of England, of which the Prince will one day be the head. It is also a reminder of the causes of the rift and of the Vatican’s stern views on divorce.
The Prince met John Paul II at the Vatican in 1985, together with the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and represented the Queen at the funeral of the Pope four years ago. However, he has not had an audience at the Vatican since his divorce from Diana in 1996, her subsequent death and his remarriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles.
The Prince was the Royal Family’s first senior member to marry a divorcée since Edward VIII (snip)
The Prince and the Duchess are Anglicans. However, the Duchess’s former husband, Andrew ParkerBowles, was a Catholic, and they brought up their children as Catholics.
The appeal on Henry VIII’s behalf — kept in the Vatican Secret Archives and rarely seen by the public — bears 85 red wax seals and is a key document in the history of the Reformation and England’s break
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
It is intended as a gesture to help to heal five centuries of schism between Rome and the Church of England, of which the Prince will one day be the head. It is also a reminder of the causes of the rift and of the Vatican’s stern views on divorce.
Ping for later
Ping for later.
Clement VII refusal of an annulment had more to do with appeasing Catherine’s nephew Charles V of Spain who had just sacked Rome the year before.
If Chuck and his family hadn’t been such horse’s rears, his sons would still have their mother.
Camilla horseface
I don’t know how many years ago this particular issue of National Geographic was published but I would gather within the last 10. There was a photo of the document with all 85 seals and it was really something to look at.
Curious ... I wonder if Chuck secretly wants his marriage to Camilla anulled or dissolved.
**When the Prince presents the Duchess of Cornwall to Benedict XVI as his wife for the first time, he will receive a gift that may strike an unwelcome chord: a “luxury facsimile” of the 1530 appeal by English peers to Pope Clement VII asking for the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.**
And Pope Benedict WORLD do that! LOL!
Diana was a phony and a publicity addict.
It is impossible to defend faiths that are in direct contradiction to each other, as Christianity and Muhammadism are.
The English King was given the term “Defender of the Faith” by the Pope when the King was fiercely opposed to Martin Luther and was at the time Catholicism’s greatest defender. How things changed.
I would recommend Seasons I and II of “The Tudors” that’s out on DVD and available through Netflix. It’s a dramatized version of Henry VIII’s life during that time, and it explains a lot of the politics behind the divorce and the manipulations of both the Crown and the Church....
I know. And, though I am a Catholic, I can appreciate why future kings and queens retained the title as they are the titular head of the Church of England and thus “defenders” of the Christian faith. The desire of Prince Charles to change the wording is an affront to ALL of Christianity.
Good suggestion. There was A LOT of political deception and manipulation leading up to Henry VIII's break from the Catholic Church and a great deal of the fault lies with Spain. Had Catherine of Aragon not been Spanish, the annulment would almost certainly have been granted.
You wrote:
“Had Catherine of Aragon not been Spanish, the annulment would almost certainly have been granted.”
I don’t think so. There was a dispensation granted for that marriage. It is highly unlikely that an annulment could ever have been granted. The marriage was was vetted and vetted and vetted.
The Vatican was under control of the Spanish at the time, they were the ones opposing annulment.
You wrote:
“The Vatican was under control of the Spanish at the time, they were the ones opposing annulment.”
This is just my opinion, but I don’t think that matters. For one thing, while the pope was in Rome surrounded by Spanish troops, Henry VIII still managed to get a secret emissary in to see him. His name was William Knight and he was Henry VIII’s private secretary. Henry wanted a dispensation in order to engage a bigamous marriage. He also wanted a dispenation of affinity (since he had an affair with Anne Boleyn’s sister BEFORE he took up with Anne Boleyn). Knight was in, out, and got the dispensation for affinity. This may all be moot, however, since according to the opinion of many scholars of that time, according to canon law the pope cannot annul a marriage on the basis of an already dispensed canonical impediment. I think Herbert Thurston talks about this in his little classic, “The Canon Law of the Divorce,” in the English Historical Review 1904 XIX: 632-645. Knight’s trip to Rome, and the results, are also discussed in Henry Ansgar Kelly’s The Matrimonial Trials of Henry VIII.
I think, no matter what, that no annulment would ever have been issued. The Holy Spirit was protecting the Church. I’m just saying....
She ended up that way, yes, I agree.
I do not believe, however, that is how she went in to that marriage.
1137: the Church granted a dispensation for Louis VII to marry his cousin Eleanor of Aquitaine. The Pope declared anathema against future objections.
Fifteen years later an annulment was granted
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