Dear Caroline,
Thank you for your sweet letter. It's a lot to live up to and I hope I can continue to do so! :-))
I know it isn't easy to understand the history of religions. Yet they have had
a lot of effect on history. You haven't quite understood the religious divisions in Ireland, which isn't at all surprising as the story is fairly complicated.
I'll try to explain. The story also has something more to do with Elizabeth I
of England.
The two main sects of Christianity in Ireland are still Roman Catholics and Protestants. They have been battling each other for years. The Englishbrought their Protestantism and it was seen as the religion of the conquerors. Roman Catholicism was the branch of Christianity that the others had followed, and many wished to retain. They still are fighting it out until this day. This
religious situation has been at the root of a great deal of pain and bloodshed.
At present there may be the beginings of a truce, but who is to know if it will
stick. So what I am going to tell you about has great effect to this very day.
These two are among the three main branches of Christianity. There is an older
branch in Greece, Russia that still exists in strong numbers in the East. It exists, of course, wherever its followers went to live, so there are Orthodox churches here in Canada, too. It was the Christianity of Byzantium, which is the name of the civilization that was inspired by the teachings of Christianity. This
branch too has many sub-branches, and is generally know as the Eastern Orthodox
Church with some branches being Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, and so on.
In past religions when a group believers felt they have found a new and truer understanding of the religion they often begin a reform movement, and if successful the new one became known as "a sect". The last time I looked there were at least 200 sects of Christianity, but there are always those three main roots and sects usually branched off one of the three roots. Not all did, though.
In the very beginning after Jesus died and Christianity began to take an organized form, the top leaders in each designated area were called "Bishops." The Bishop of Rome was considered by many to be the "successor to Saint Peter", one of
Jesus' twelve disciples. Jesus is reported in the New Testament to have said that the big fisherman (Peter) had faith that was strong, like a rock, and that is
why Jesus gave him a new name, Peter, which meant "rock" and said that on such
rocklike faith He would build the Christian faith. "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church." That is the quotation of His words from the New
Testament.
The New Testament is the collected teachings and story of Jesus. It is also the
earliest history of the Faith Jesus taught. It was written down beginning about forty years after Jesus died when the early believers realized that Jesus wasn
't coming back immediately, life was going to go on, and they had better record
what they could collect. They collected as much as they could for many years. Over a long period of time (300 years or more,) it was sorted, written in Greek and/or Latin, and became what is called The New Testament. The Holy Book of the
Jews, the Torah, was called by Christians "The Old Testament". Both are found in a Christian Bible.
Those words Jesus said to Peter when He gave him his new name were translated into English and other languages as "church." Today the word "church" means any of
the three roots, a Christian congregation of any sect, also it can mean the building in which a root or sect worships. Here's an example of the three waysit can be used:
"There's the church in which we were married." (the building)
"Is your church Catholic or Protestant?" (which sect?)
"We are the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." (the believers of
this sect when speaking of their members.)
Saint Peter was martyred in Rome by being hung upside down on his cross because
he didn't feel worthy to be crucified in the upright position as Jesus himself was martyred. Peter was known as the "first Bishop of Rome." The Roman Catholics' were a strong group and their Bishop of Rome took precedence among the bishops. It is believed by them the bishops who followed Saint Peter in Rome were "seated on the throne of Peter", and so each new Pope was said to "walk in the shoes of the fisherman. In other words they hold the position of Peter. The Roman
Catholic teaching is that Christianity should look for its leader to the Pope in
Rome. Of course, many of the sects, especially all of the Protestant sects don
't do so, but the Pope who recently died was reported to have said that is still
the aim of the Roman Catholic Church. The word "Pope" in Latin means Papa or the "Holy Father" as he is titled. Of course in our time to turn to the Pope in
Rome as leader of the "One Holy Roman Catholc Church" can't be forced upon other Christians. In the past this was tried and there were wars and deaths on both
sides.
In the early days of Christianity a Christian missionary teacher came to Ireland
. His name was Saint Patrick. He had success. There are myths and legends about him. One is that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland. I think that probably means that he drove the old religion of the Druids out of Ireland. That was
the religion of the Celts. Anyway, that's how Roman Catholicism came to Ireland
.
Nobody in the West knew much about what was happening in the Orthodox churches in the East. Eventually Roman Catholicism became corrupt. Money was accepted to
pay the way of the beloved dead into heaven, for instance. Money was collected
so that your sins could be forgiven. Money was collected in advance so that you could do a few sins. Anyway, some prominent people in that branch of Christianity became fed up and in various countries there was a move to make a reformed
church. Eventually it became known as Protestantism. You can see the word "protest" in the name.
That was in the 1500's A.D. around the time of the reign in England of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I's father. Henry VIII was a brilliant man. He was raised all his
life to become a priest. His elder brother brother Arthur died, and he became
king instead. He eventually and married his brother's widow, Catharine of Aragon, a Spanish princess. It was said that the marriage with Henry's brother had never been consumated, so the Pope in Rome allowed the marriage. The marriage of
Henry and Catharines produced a daughter they named Mary. Theynever had another child though a son was needed to be king when King Henry died.
When Katharine was too old for more children King Henry divorced her. He
married Katharine Howard and from her had a weakly son. His intent in trying new wives so many times was always the desperation to produce a son and heir.
In fact when Henry VIII died he had had eight wives in his efforts to have a
strong son to succeed him as King of England. He was unsuccessful. From his first wife he had Mary. From his second wife he had a weakly and frail son, and from his third wife he had a daughter, Elizabeth.
Now this is important. Henry was extremely well educated in religion and he washighly intelligent. The Pope wouldn't let him divorce Queen Katharine so he could marry a woman who might produce an heir so eventually King Henry was excommunicated by the Pope. That put his outside all the kings of Christianity. He would be totally unacceptable. Henry VIII founded his own
Christian church, today known as The Church of England, and made the one who sits on England's throne the Head of the Church. Even today, Queen Elizabeth IIof England is the Head of the Church of England. It has priests, but they may marry. Roman Catholic priests may never marry.
Now you can see that the conquerors of Ireland were Church of England who didn't
recognize the authority of the Pope in Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Now you understand some of the root of the troubles in Ireland. Of course
there were other things, but this is a big part of it.
Now to Elizabeth I of England. You remember the sickly son from Catharine Howard whose family managed to have the king fall in love with her? This son was Henry's successor. He was a very ardent Protestant, Church of England. He didn't reign long before he died. The next successor was Queen Mary who had been declared
a bastard by her father, but who did ascend to the throne. She had an unhappy
rule. Her mother the Spanish princess was an ardent Roman Catholic and raised
her to be the same. Roman Catholic Mary was married to Roman Catholic Phillip II of Spain. He married her, among other reasons, to bring England back to Roman
Catholicism. She loved him and desperately wanted to give him a son to sit on
the throne of England. By the time she came to the throne she was almost too old to have children. She was quite a lot older than her husband who didn't love her. She tried desperately to have children, but it didn't happen. Twice she had false pregnancies that went a long time past nine months with all the signs of
pregnancy, but there was no child there. Under his power she began to persecute and burn Protestants at the stake in a place near London, a horse market known
as "Smithfield." The fanatical burnings continued after Phillip left her. She
had a love/hate relationship with her much younger sister, Elizabeth who was the
child of Ann Boleyn. The Boleyns had also schemed and dealt to have Henry marry Ann. Through closeness to the throne great power came to these families whose
daughters managed to marry the king. Eventually Ann Boleyn was beheaded, ostensible for adultery, but not before she had Elizabeth and had miscarried two sons
, to the King and Queen's great disappointment. It
appears that Henry VIII probably had syphilis and the older he got the less chance of a child because of the king's illness.
Elizabeth managed to escape her half-sister Mary's menace. Elizabeth was a Protestant, too. After Mary died Elizabeth ascended to the throne, and Protestantism was the strong religion of the realm.
So that's some foundation knowledge for you about Ireland, Roman Catholics and Protestants, and Elizabeth I and her family.
I hope it was of some interest to you. I'll tell you more about Elizabeth another time.
Warmly, Mary
