THOMAS WOLSEY was born in Ipswich, England, in 1475. He became a priest in 1498 and was favored by King Henry VIII. His rise was swift. He was appointed bishop of Lincoln in 1514, archbishop of York a few months later, cardinal in 1515, and papal legate just three years later. In addition, the king made him lord chancellor. Thus he virtually ruled England from 1515 until 1529. Cardinal Wolsey was typical of many clerics who have exercised power as both secular and spiritual “lords.”

When writing to Titus, the apostle Paul said that an overseer must be “free from accusation.” (Titus 1:6) Was Cardinal Wolsey “free from accusation”? The Encyclopædia Britannica says that he was “unchaste​—he had an illegitimate son and daughter.” He is not alone in this. Through the centuries, countless priests and bishops have been similarly guilty. As the book Age of Faith says: “By the ninth century, clerical chastity and even celibacy had become a mockery.” One of the 11th-century popes, Gregory VII, admitted: “I find but few bishops whose appointments and whose lives are in accordance with the laws of the Church, or who govern God’s people through love and not through worldly ambition.”

Paul further wrote that a Christian elder should not be “a lover of money.” (1 Timothy 3:3) Concerning Wolsey, however, the Encyclopædia Britannica says: “He was worldly, greedy for wealth” and “used his vast secular and ecclesiastical power to amass wealth that was second in value only to that of the King.” He had two palaces, one of which, York Place, was so sumptuous that Henry VIII, after inspecting it, became “incensed by the wealth which he found” and took it over.

How fleeting such material gain can be! Thomas Wolsey failed to arrange the marriage annulment that Henry VIII wanted and thus fell from favor in 1529. According to history, he then “retired in disgrace to his diocese of York, which he had never visited”​—in 15 years! (Italics ours.) Wolsey, however, had not merely lost in the game of politics. His real failure was neglecting to follow “the fine shepherd [Jesus, who] surrenders his soul in behalf of the sheep.”​—John 10:11.