Bishop Claudius, a Forerunner of the Reformation

“What’s going on over there?” Bernard looked at his friend Paul, who was walking with him through the streets of Turin. They were just passing the big cathedral in the center of their city.

“I don’t know. Why are all those people standing there? Let’s go and take a look.” Paul made his way to the big open doors of the church, and Bernard followed.

Two workmen were just coming through the doors. They carried a huge statue, and they put it on the cobblestones of the street.

Bernard gasped. It was the statue of St. Peter! Now that holy apostle was lying there with his nose on the dirty street!

Mouth agape, Bernard watched four other men come through the doors. Together they carried another huge statue. Who was that? Wasn’t that the image of the holy Mary? The boys couldn’t see it. What was happening here?

“Ah, finally we are getting rid of all that rubbish in the church. It does not belong there. It is too bad the bishop waited so long.”

Bernard looked at the man who had spoken. Rubbish? But wasn’t that the holy apostle Peter and —

“How dare you say that?” a woman angrily answered the man. She looked upset. “The bishop will have to answer for this.”

“I think our bishop is right.”

“No, the Pope will make him return everything to its place.”

“I hope not. Those dead things don’t belong in the church.”

“We’ve always had them. Aren’t they nice?”

The two boys just stood there listening.

“I’m going home,” Bernard said suddenly. He wanted to talk to his mom and dad. He needed to ask them about it and find out what was happening.

“I want to see what else they are taking out,” Paul said. He was a nosy boy.

“Okay, see you tomorrow then,” Bernard said, and he started to walk home.

“I have heard about it,” his dad said thoughtfully when Bernard told him what he had seen. “The bishop has talked about it already for some time. He said there are things in the church that were not there many years ago. He could not find them in the Bible, either.”

His wife looked at him.

“But the Pope is higher than a bishop. And the Pope says — ”

Father interrupted. “I know, I know. We, the common people, do not know too much about it, for we cannot read the Bible. But let us trust that our bishop is right. He is a clever man, and I think he serves the Lord. I cannot say that about all the others. Let us be honest. When we look at all those monks who drink and eat till they — ”

“Shh!” his wife warned him.

Father looked at Bernard. “I will not say too much. Let us listen to our bishop. He is a wise man.”

That Sunday the big church in Turin was filled. All the people wanted to know what the bishop would say about what had happened that week. Bishop Claudius saw all the faces of the people looking anxiously at the pulpit. This bishop had read the books of Augustine, and he had studied the Bible. He had seen very clearly that many wrong things had come into the church. He had also discovered that in many ways the Roman Catholic doctrine departed from the Word of God.

He wanted to warn the people. Each of those men and women and children had a soul. Each needed a new heart, but they didn’t know it. They just looked at the statue of Peter or Paul, or they paid some money, or they prayed a few words, and they expected everything to be well.

“No,” the bishop said. “No, it is not good. We are returning to heathenism. In the past the Romans also had their idols. Their temples were full of images of their gods. But we are doing the same thing. Look around you! Our churches are also filled with images. We just give them different names, not Jupiter, but Peter or Paul. But God commanded us in His Word: ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.’”

It was breathlessly quiet in the church. But the bishop had more to say. “The Lord Himself buried Moses. They could not find his grave. And why not? It was so that the Israelites would not commit idolatry

with the body of Moses. Must we then commit idolatry with the remains of saints? What do you expect from the dry bones which were found somewhere? They told you they were the bones of a saint, but maybe they were the bones of a criminal. What good can they do you?

“Do you expect something from a little bottle of the tears of the Lord Jesus? Or from a little piece of wood from the cross? How many crosses could we make out of all those pieces of wood?

“Or do you think your child will be healed by a piece of cloth from the swaddling clothes? How many cloths could we piece together from all those pieces that are sold for a good price?”

It was so quiet in the church. Some people looked at each other in amazement. They had never thought about it that way. They had been deceived! Others stared angrily at the bishop. Just wait! They would report everything to the other bishops. And then the Pope would hear about it, and then —

And so it happened. Bishop Claudius had many enemies after what he had done. But he did not give up. He felt in his heart he had to do it. He saw the many things that had gone wrong in the church. Many people came to listen to him and believed him when he told them what was in the Bible.

The Pope was furious. The church had earned much money by using the relics. Now the bishop warned against them and called it cheating. The Pope and the other bishops liked to feast and to eat and to drink. But Bishop Claudius said it was all wrong and that they had to serve the Lord instead of their belly.

The people used to travel to places where special relics were located, to pray there. But the bishop said, “God is everywhere, and if we only pray in truth, then we don’t have to go to a special place.”

The Roman Catholic church taught that good works could help to earn salvation. The people sometimes gave a lot of money to the church. The bishop said: “It isn’t true; never has anyone been saved by his own works. We can be saved and inherit glory only through the work of Christ.”

Ah, the Pope wished he could get rid of this bishop. But he could not, for Bishop Claudius had two mighty protectors: the Lord, and the Emperor, Louis the Pious.

Again Bernard was walking along the streets of Turin. He felt lonely. His friend Paul did not come to visit anymore. They had had an argument about the bishop, and Paul had called him bad names. He had heard them from his father. Bernard could not agree with that.

“My dad said the bishop is right.”

“No, my dad said the Pope is right.”

Now they had not seen each other for a few weeks.

Bernard sighed. The bishop was such a nice man. He could always feel that his words came right from his heart. But it was hard to lose a friend.

“Let’s hope that Paul and his parents will understand it some day,” his father said as he tried to comfort him. “And,” he added softly, “you may pray for that. You know what our bishop said: don’t pray to St. Paul or St. Peter, but tell all your cares to the Lord.”

Bernard looked at his dad thoughtfully. He sighed. “I wish I could read the Bible myself. Then I would know the truth.”

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