This week in Christian history: Anglican clergyman Frederick Faber converts to Catholicism; End Times theologian born
Reginald Pole dies – Nov. 17, 1558
This week marks the anniversary of when Reginald Pole, the last Roman Catholic clergyman to hold the office of the archbishop of Canterbury, died at the age of 58 due to illness.
A cardinal, Pole oversaw the Council of Trent in the 1540s, which was held in response to the Protestant Reformation. In 1550, he was seriously considered for the papacy.
Pole became archbishop under the reign of Queen Mary I, a pious Catholic whose violent attempt to eliminate Protestantism in England earned her the nickname “Bloody Mary.”
“Pole is usually not blamed for the campaign of heresy trials and burnings of almost three hundred heretics and Protestants that is such a blot on the reign of ‘Bloody Mary,’” noted the National Catholic Register in a 2016 piece.
“Known for his gentleness and patience with those suspected of heresy, he regarded them as sinners rather than traitors, urging leniency, conversion, and forgiveness.”
