Church remembers anarchic monks
-09/05/05
A Catholic bishop of Westminster teamed up last week with the Anglican Bishop of London to lead a remarkable joint tribute to monks martyred for refusing to recognise Henry VIII as head of the Church in England.
The ecumenical service was held at Suttonís Hospital in Charterhouse, in London, which was founded in 1611 on the site of the former Carthusian priory. The service was led jointly by the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, and Bishop George Stack, an auxiliary of Westminster diocese, who was representing the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-OíConnor.
Between 1535 and 1540 some 17 Carthusians monks and lay brothers belonging to the London Charterhouse were executed on the charge of ìmachinating and desiring to deprive the King of his title as Supreme Head of the Churchî. The prior of the monastery St John Houghton and his companions were accused of openly declaring that ìthe King our Sovereign Lord is not supreme head on earth of the Church of Englandî.
The service to commemorate the martyrs took the form of a procession around parts of the Hospital that have been identified with the original Charterhouse.
Sung Vespers were held in the present-day Chapel, formerly the Carthusiansí Chapter House. The form of Vespers was the one sung at St Hughís Charterhouse in Parkminster, W. Sussex ñ the home of Englandís modern-day Carthusians.
A message was delivered by a Carthusian envoy who represented both Parkminster and the Carthusian mother house, La Grande Chartreuse near Grenoble.
Both bishops gave short addresses linking the Carthusian martyrs to those of the twentieth century. Bishop Chartres praised the Christian martyrs who said ìnoî to Hitler and Stalin, while Bishop Stack compared the words of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador to those of St John Houghton.
Responding to possible criticism that it was inappropriate for an Anglican bishop to be praising the martyrs, Bishop Chartres said the idea that Henry VIII was head of the Church of England was nonsense.
ìIf I believed that I would leave tomorrow,î he said. ìHenry was a monster of egotism with a gift for propaganda.î He went on: ìAs a matter of historical fact, the title Supreme Head, a direction contradiction of Scripture which names Christ as head of the Church, was never revived after Henryís death. The Elizabethan legislation substituted the title of Supreme Governor.î