Philip had also reported the king's anxiety for instruction in Catholic discipline and for reconciliation with the apostolic see in regard to all discrepancies, and his desire to have a church in Rome and an altar at Jerusalem.
During the three or four years which followed the signing of the Augsburg Confession in 1530 and the formation of the Schmalkaldic League, England, while bitterly dep ouncing and burning Lutheran heretics in the name of the Holy Catholic Church, was herself engaged in severing the bonds which had for well-nigh a thousand of years bound her to the Apostolic See.
After Cyprian the African episcopate, in proportion as it perfected its organization, seemed to feel less and less the need for close relations with the apostolic see.
The question of reform having arisen, from the apostolic see alone could its fulfilment be expected, since in it, with the succession of St Peter, were preserved the most august traditions of Christianity.
The apostolic see hardly ever interfered in the government of the local Churches.
