Sunday, December 02, 2007

Elizabeth I: Heretic, Usurper, Tyrant

Update: not for the first time, British bigotry is causing scandal to our co-religionists abroad.

From CFNews
: The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) has demanded withdrawal or censorship of the controversial anti-Catholic movie 'Elizabeth' produced by Indian director Sekhar Kapoor. Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes, CBCI secretary general, in a letter to national Censor Board chairperson points out that the movie 'unnecessarily targets the Catholic Church and its leaders and this is not acceptable to a community that respects leaders of other religions.' Pointing out that scholars and the historians across the globe have described the film as an 'anti-papal travesty,' the Indian bishops conference has suggested that the film should be released in India with a disclaimer stating that 'the film is not based on accurate history,' or the Catholic-bashing scenes removed. Church protests had prompted the government to adopt similar steps before allowing release of the controversial Da Vinci Code in India in 2006

Original post (15/11/07): Let us immediately endorse Fr Finnigan's call for Mel Gibson to make a film about St Edmund Campion - the 'black legend' depicting 16th C. Catholics as creepy fanatics and everyone else as glamorous modern people needs to be countered. We need you, Mel!

And congratulations to the Facebook creators of this great picture (join the Facebook group here). Readers should note that Elizabeth I, unlike later generations of Anglicans, was a heretic in the technical sense of falling away from the Faith. She pretended to be a Catholic for the years of her sister' Mary's reign. She was a usurper in the sense that, following her declaration of bastardy by Henry VIII, the heir to the throne after Mary Tudor was Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots; she gained consent of Mary Tudor and Parliament to her accession by swearing solemnly to uphold the Catholic Faith: an oath she immediately broke.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think my Parish Priest was behind the suggestion! But hey as long as it's made...

Daniel Hill said...

I think Elizabeth's birth was never legitimated at English law, was it?

Anonymous said...

No idea Daniel! But I'd guess Mary might have done it when she made Elizabeth her heir, which she was bullied into by King Phillip when she was dying...

Anonymous said...

Interesting blog and i am glad you are doing this. Anti Catholic bigotry is rife in all English Speaking lands. It is a time honored tradtition in the US, where im writing from. Catholics are,of course,the only people who havent made it onto the protected list. In all fairness in the US Muslims are the main whipping boy atm. Catholic slander is generally confined to "jokes" about pedarasts and Nazis.

Pope Leo XIII's Prayer to St Michael

Holy Michael, Archangel, defend us in the day of battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust down to Hell Satan, and all wicked spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen