Religious Corruption Quotes
The Irish monks were loyal to the pope and were outraged when he was displaced by King Henry VIII. They were seen as a hotbed of disloyalty and therefore ordered to close. This is one of the many examples where an established government church dictated not only how people should worship but also prohibit other religions from functioning. These examples were well known to the American Founding Fathers and much of educated American opinion which was one of the drivers of the First Amendment and the separation of church and state.
The King had earlier replaced the Pope as the head of the English church. The references to money referred to a then common corruption of the Church whereby people could buy indulgences—religious papal pardons of past or future sins. This was a major revenue source for the Vatican and a major issue for Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformers some of who saw the pope as the Devil incarnate See {623153}. For Martin Luther’s view pf the practice and {626720}, {595195}, and {639436} for other contemporary views.
Wycliffe had come down with a serious illness and appeared to be dying. The friars gathered at his bedside assuming that he would repent his attacks on the church, the friars and the Pope with his last rites. Instead, he pronounced this famous line. The churchmen left in disgust waiting for him to die. But he did not and vexed the established church and its representatives for a few more years. Wycliffe was castigated and had his books burned for his attacks on priests and bishops. A thousand years earlier another man was canonized as a Saint for similar attacks. See {618186}
