Katharine of Aragon (1485-1536), the first wife of the
much-married English king, Henry VIII, has a new champion. Gregory
Nassif St. John, a retired New York stage actor now living in
Georgia, has begun the process that he hopes and prays will lead to
the Catholic Church declaring that Katharine (Nassif St. John uses
the traditional English spelling) is a saint.
Nassif St. John learned of Katharine’s story via The
Six Wives of Henry VIII, the award-winning BBC series that
aired in 1970. Katharine was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella
of Spain (the royal couple who bankrolled Columbus’ voyage to what
turned to be the Americas). In 1509 she married Henry. It was a
love match, at least at the beginning, but after 18 years of
marriage and the birth of six children, only one of whom, Mary,
survived to adulthood, Henry grew tired of his wife. Infidelity was
commonplace among kings, and Henry was no better than his brother
monarchs, but about the time Katharine stopped conceiving, he
became particularly infatuated with one his wife’s
ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn. Anne was intelligent, ambitious,
vivacious, sexy, and she was candid about her terms: she didn’t
want to be Henry’s concubine, she wanted to be his wife and
queen.
As a Catholic, Henry could not divorce Katharine, so the
only alternative was to have their marriage annulled. Only the pope
could declare that what had appeared to all the world as marriage
had been invalid from the beginning. In presenting his case Henry
argued that because he had married his elder brother’s widow their
union was cursed by God — they had no child (by “child” he meant a
boy; Mary, as a girl, didn’t count). Katharine countered that she
and Henry’s elder brother Arthur had been married only three months
before the sickly fourteen-year-old died, and during that time they
had never consummated their marriage. When he married Henry, she
said bluntly, she was still a virgin — a fact well known to
him.
The case dragged on as Pope Clement VII dithered about
what to do. After four years of waiting, Henry took matters into
his own hands. He had his obliging archbishop of Canterbury annul
his marriage with Katharine. He married Anne Boleyn. Then he
severed England’s ties with Rome and proclaimed himself head of the
Church in England. In short order Anne was crowned queen and
Parliament declared her children would be heirs to the throne of
England. As for Katharine and Mary, they were shipped off two
different castles. Katharine was stripped of her title, “Queen of
England,” henceforth she would be known as “Dowager Princess of
Wales.” As for Mary, she was declared illegitimate. Katharine
absolutely refused to accept such a settlement. Her marriage was
valid; her daughter was Princess of Wales; and the pope did have
authority over such matters. But under Henry’s new political and
religious order, such sentiments were treason. Those who supported
Katharine, including Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher, were
beheaded. Other supporters were hanged, drawn, and quartered;
starved to death in the Tower of London; or in the case of
Katharine’s confessor, roasted to death over a slow fire. When
Henry sent two envoys to threaten Katharine with death if she did
not conform to the king’s will, she fully expected that she would
die a martyr like her friends.
Henry never went that far, but he was still cruel. He
confiscated her jewels and gave them to Anne. He forbade Katharine
and Mary to ever see each other again. He stripped Katharine of
almost all her household staff, many of whom had come to England
with her in 1501. When Anne became pregnant Henry demanded that
Katharine hand over the christening gown that all their dead
children had worn; all other mistreatment she had borne patiently,
but this was too much — Katharine absolutely refused to give up
the gown.
In December 1535 Katharine fell seriously ill. By the
first week of January 1536 it was clear she was dying. Hours before
her death she wrote one last letter to her husband. She begged him
to look to “the health and safeguard of your soul which you ought
to prefer before all worldly matters, and before the care and
pampering of your body, for the which you have cast me into many
calamities and yourself into many troubles.” Then, after pleading
with him to be a good father to their daughter Mary and a generous
master to her few remaining ladies, she concluded saying, “Lastly,
I make this vow, that mine eyes desire you above all things.
Katharine the Queen.”
“Her story touched me very deeply,” Nassif St. John said
in a recent interview. “I knew she was being treated unfairly and
cruelly. Her story stuck with me my whole life.”
It’s one thing to feel sympathy for Katharine, but how
does one go about making her a saint? Encouraged by his parish
priest, Nassif St. John wrote to Michael Evans, the Catholic bishop
of East Anglia, (the diocese where Katharine died and where she
lies buried) and Vincent Nichols, Catholic archbishop of
Westminster, seeking their advice. Archbishop Nichols and Bishop
Evans both expressed their support for the cause, but emphasized
that there must be clear evidence of devotion to Katharine. In
other words, there must be proof that people venerate Katharine’s
memory and consider her saintly.
That evidence has been supplied by Charles Taylor, Dean of
the Anglican diocese of Peterborough, England. Every year, about
the time of the anniversary of Katharine’s death, the clergy of
Peterborough Cathedral (site of Katharine’s grave) host a three-day
commemoration of this holy but cast-off queen. There is an
ecumenical memorial service in the cathedral, a candlelight
procession to Katharine’s grave, and a Catholic Mass offered at the
High Altar.
“Quite a number of our visitors come to see Katharine’s
grave,” Dean Taylor wrote in a recent email. “A few lay
flowers or a pomegranate (symbol of Aragon), and even if most do
not audibly or even consciously utter words of prayer, the visit to
see and remember is to some extent an act of prayer in
itself.”
That is a good beginning, but more is necessary. According
to Msgr. Richard Soseman, a priest of the diocese of Peoria,
Illinois, who worked on the cause for the canonization of
Archbishop Fulton Sheen, “Laypeople should form themselves into
groups, guilds, associations, foundations, etc., to promote the
life, holiness, teachings, and example of the candidate. The laity
should be wildly enthusiastic about their candidate, and share the
good news, which they have as a result of their devotion, with
others.” Msgr. Soseman also suggested producing prayer cards and
perhaps pamphlets or booklets about Katharine, and disseminate them
to anyone even remotely interested. To get the word out, Nassif St.
John has created a website:
Katharine of Aragon: The Official Website for Her Cause.
Katharine died in 1536, so obviously there are no
eyewitnesses to interview about her life and character. An
assessment of her holiness must be based solely on her own writings
and the writings of people who knew her well. These documents exist
in archives in England, Spain, and the Vatican, and the cost of
tracking them down and copying them is the responsibility of the
association promoting Katharine for sainthood. So this is no idle
undertaking.
Nonetheless, Nassif St. John is as modest about his role
as he is undaunted. “My part in all of this is simply
having started the ball rolling,” he said recently. “Katharine is
the focus and I never want the focus shifted to me.” And if
Katharine of Aragon does become a saint, Nassif St. John
has suggested two areas of which she should be patron saint.
“I think she should be considered a patron saint for those
struggling with their marriages,” he said, “and I believe she
should be the patroness for the reunification between Rome and
Canterbury.”
