When the Pope arrived in Scotland a couple of days ago, on the first leg of his state visit to the UK, a welcome speech touched on the Reformation and mentioned the persecution of Catholics by Protestants.  It did not, however, refer to the treatment of Reformers by Catholics.

In a recent article in The Living Church, John Martin notes that in London stand two churches within a mile of one another, each commemorating religious martyrs:-

A plaque in St. James Clerkenwell celebrates a line of succession from the Lollards, whose inspiration was the Bible translator John Wycliffe, to people burned at the stake on orders from Queen Mary. About a mile away, English Martyrs Roman Catholic Church honors people who suffered death in the turbulence accompanying the Protestant Reformation.

These two lists have not a single name in common.

One of the most obvious signs that human minds are fallen and sinful is that any two people, or groups of people, are apt to give hugely different accounts of the same event.  Each story will tend be a mixture of what happened, and what the story-teller wanted to have happened.  At the very least, pertinent facts will be omitted, and other information will be either exaggerated or minimised according to the wishes and needs of the story-teller.

Something about telling ‘the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth’ comes to mind.