Podcasts of The English Reformation Today

Podcasts of the first three episodes of my Radio Maria US show are now available and here is a link to the Program page:

“The English Reformation Today” tells the story of the English Reformation and its aftermath, focusing on how it affected Catholics in England after their Church was driven underground and their Faith and its practice outlawed. The series also highlights the on-going significance of the English Reformation today in many ways: issues of religious freedom; ecumenical issues between the Catholic Church and the Church of England, etc.

Episode One: August 4, 2012:  The English Reformation Today: Why is it relevant?

Relevance of the English Reformation for religious freedom issues in the United States (and around the world) today, including the HHS Mandate; context for the Personal Ordinariate established by Pope Benedict XVI for groups of Anglicans wishing to become Catholics; background for the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. Distinction of the English Reformation from the Protestant Reformation on the Continent in the 16th century.

Episode Two: August 11, 2012: Before the Reformation:

Brief notes on changing interpretations of the English Reformation in historical studies. Description of the Catholic Church in England before the Reformation/Break from Rome: based on landmark study by Eamon Duffy, note the vitality and integration of Catholicism with everyday life in England: introduce some main characters of the story: Thomas More, Thomas Wolsey, John Fisher, Henry VIII.

Episode Three: August 18, 2012: Henry VIII and the Break from Rome:

Tell the story of why Henry VIII broke away from the Holy Father in Rome and established the Church of England with himself as the Supreme Head and Governor; describe the first martyrs (the Carthusians, Thomas More, John Fisher, etc); the Dissolution of the Monasteries; the death of Henry VIII and his legacy.

This Saturday, August 25, we will pick up where we left off last week with the Pilgrimage of Grace and the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Then I'll describe the legacy of Henry VIII and the coming of a true Protestant--Calvinist--Reformation in England during the reign of his son, Edward VI.