Lichfield Cathedral and the relics of Saint Chad: a Laudian view
'Saint's relic returns to cathedral 500 years on' declared The Times on 7th November. And just so we know who was to blame for that 500 year interruption, "Henry VIII's men" are pointed to as vandals who destroyed the shrine of holy Chad. That is how the news that Lichfield Cathedral is 'recreating' the shrine of Saint Chad hit the headlines in the UK last week. One can easily imagine responses from a particular Anglican (and, indeed, non-Anglican) 'angry Protestant' constituency: loud invocations of Article 22 and condemnation of the popish practice of relics. This post, by contrast, seeks to give a Laudian response, that is, a peaceable Protestant perspective (remembering that the Apostle exhorts us, "as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men"). To begin with, let us consider the account of the project given on the Lichfield Cathedral website . There are, it must be admitted, some silly statements on the site that d...