King Edward VII may have converted to Catholicism on his deathbed

Started by Guapo, February 10, 2019, 10:31:20 AM

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Guapo

There is ample evidence that King Edward VII may have converted to Catholicism on his deathbed. Edward is well known for all
the wrong reasons such as being a womanizer, playboy, glutton but there is another side to him a Spiritual side that doesn´t
quite make it past the notorious stories. His longing and respect for the Catholic Faith.

First reason is that an elderly Priest many years ago related a story told to him that the Irish maids working in his Household
insisted that he converted on his deathbed.Unfortunately nothing else is known except what they claimed.

Second reason is this article, https://supremacyandsurvival.blogspot.com/2014/06/edward-vii-and-catholic-church.html
Snip from the Catholic Herald;
¨Both The Telegraph and The Catholic Herald published stories in the lead up to Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to Scotland and England about Edward VII even being received into the Catholic Church of his deathbed, like Charles II. From The Telegraph:

Edward was known for his Catholic sympathies. He had tried to change the Coronation service to keep out anti-Catholic remarks. As Prince of Wales, he had visited Pope Pius IX three times. When guests at Marlborough House were unwell, Fr Forster would bring the Sacrament to them, and the Prince would meet him at the door, conducting him upstairs with lighted tapers to the sick-room.




... As Prince of Wales he visited Pope Pius IX three times and later became the first English king since the Plantagenets to cross the threshold of the papal palace in Rome to visit Leo XIII. He gave money for the upkeep of at least one Catholic church and the last big religious function he attended was the Blessed Sacrament procession at Lourdes, where he entered the grotto and apparently prayed at La Roque church. . . .

Well, Paul Cambon, the French ambassador at the time of the King's death, was summoned by Queen Alexandra to pay a final friendly visit to the King as he lay dying, and noticed a Catholic priest leaving his bedside. According to Gerard Noel, the former editor of The Catholic Herald, Cambon noted in his memoirs that he knew the priest by sight, but not by name.

There is evidence that the priest may have been Fr Forster himself. A member of the same family, Dr Lavinia Braun-Davenport, has stated that in her family tradition she was "brought up with the knowledge that my grandmother's great uncle, Fr Cyril Forster, had converted the King of England to Catholicism on his deathbed". The king was Edward VII. The suggestion is that Fr Forster was taken by Sir Ernest Cassel, a close friend of the King and a Catholic convert himself (from Judaism), to see the sovereign as he lay dying. It is claimed that Edward there accepted the Catholic faith. There seems to be no doubt that Fr Forster was one of the King's visitors on his last day. Dr Braun-Davenport's grandmother left a note saying that Edward's conversion was "a 'family secret' – the Old Rake's Repentance"!

Guapo


The Third reason is from the book, Edward the VII the Peacemaker by David Butler.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22068561-edward-the-seventh-the-peacemaker

From what can be gleamed from this biography is that he seemed to detest the Anglican Church, its prudishness and in addition
the power base establishment that kept curtailing his diplomacy such as Lord Balfour and others who rather wanted his advice¨only on the formal sitting arrangements at the dinner table¨ Nevertheless being related to most of the European Monarchs he formed his own diplomacy to the chagrin of the British establishment. One of the salient points is his fondness and respect for Catholics. One thing was for sure he wasn´t a prudish Victorian and didn´t wear a Mask. The English folk rejoiced in his achievements and were disappointed in his personal scandals yet they always forgave him because he didn´t wear a Mask and was liked for his truthfulness.


Guapo


Some examples are that he gave his Blessing to his niece´s Marriage to become Catholic and to marry the King of Spain!
He was genuinely moved by the death of Pope Leo XIII and sent condolescenes to Cardinal Logue. He established firm ties with the Vatican displaying diplomacy skills and jockeying. Despite Lord Balfour´s objections he met with the Pope and said to
his opponents, ¨There are millions of R.C. among my subjects I will not insult them by ignoring the Vatican.¨


Edward was fond of his cigars including after a dreadful complicated surgery he was found in his sick bed the following day smoking a cigar and he liked his liquor. As for Peacemaker well to an extent it does seem overplayed. What did he do as Prince of Wales to stop the Boer War? As Czar Nicholas wrote to him, ¨the Boer war looks like a war of extermination against a small people desperately defending their country¨

mikemac

Like John Vennari (RIP) said "Why not just do it?  What would it hurt?"
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