The death of a Pope is a time for assorted reflections on the Catholic Church. Protestants can be wary of speaking up. Even the word ‘Protestant’ is not a very familiar one these days. Sure, most of us know that the Church of England is Protestant, and that Luther was Protestant and that the Reformation was the birth of the Protestant movement. But the Church of England doesn’t draw attention to its Protestant identity. There’s a vague sense that to do so would be bigoted. For doesn’t Protestant mean anti-Catholic?
The last proud Protestant was Ian Paisley – and even he softened in old age. It is now widely felt to be embarrassing that the British constitution has an anti-Catholic aspect (the monarch is still not allowed to be a Catholic, though the ban on marrying a Catholic has recently been lifted).
Protestantism still has much to learn from Catholicism
So the old sectarianism is dead and gone, to the relief of all, and mutual respect reigns supreme.
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