Who is the patron saint of England?

Question

Is it still St George given that he is no longer recognised or someone else?

Answer 1

St George is the patron saint of England and among the most famous of Christian figures

The cult of St George probably first reached the Kingdom of England when the crusaders returned from the Holy Land in the 12th century. King Edward III of England (reigned 1327 – 1377) was known for promoting the codes of knighthood and in 1348 founded the Order of the Garter. During his reign, George came to be recognised as the patron saint of England. Edward dedicated the chapel at Windsor Castle to the soldier saint who represented the knightly values of chivalry which he so much admired, and the Garter ceremony takes place there every year. In the 16th Century, William Shakespeare firmly placed St George within the national conscience in his play Henry V in which the English troops are rallied with the cry “God for Harry, England and St George.”

On June 2nd 1893, Pope Leo XIII, demoted St George as Patron Saint for the English, relegating him to the second rank of 'national protector' and replaced him with St Peter as the Patron Saint of England. The change was solemnly announced by Cardinal Herbert Vaughan in the Bromptom Oratory. This papal pronouncement served to exclude the Catholic Church in England away from a day which is part of English tradition. In 1963, in the Roman Catholic Church, St George was further demoted to a third class minor saint and removed him from the Universal Calendar, with the proviso that he could be honoured in local calendars. Pope John Paul II, in 2000, restored St George to the Calendar, and he appears in Missals as the English Patron Saint, with Pope Leo’s pronouncement conveniently forgotten. With the revival of Scottish and Welsh nationalism, there has been renewed interest within England in St George, whose memory had been in abeyance for many years. This is most evident in the St George's flags which now have replaced Union Flags in stadiums where English sports teams compete. Nevertheless, St George’s Day still remains a relatively low-key affair with the City of London not publicly celebrating the patron saint. However, the City of Salisbury does hold an annual St George’s Day pageant, the origins of which are believed to go back to the thirteenth century.

Answer 2

St. King Edward the Confessor....pray for us. St. Thomas More...pray for us....St. John Fisher....pray for us...England is rich in patron saints. These are only a few.

Answer 3

Yes, it is and always will be St. George, after all, the English always were eccentric and like to be different.

Answer 4

ST GEORGE