By Brandon Showalter, CP Reporter President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence walk along the Colonnade of the White Hous...
By Brandon Showalter,
CP Reporter
President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence walk
along the Colonnade of the White House prior to a coronavirus (COVID-19) update
briefing Monday, March 30, 2020, in the Rose Garden at the White House. | White
House/Tia Dufour)
President Donald Trump called for an end to religious
persecution this week in an official proclamation Monday, coinciding with the
850th anniversary of the death of English archbishop Thomas Becket.
The proclamation calls Becket, who was martyred on December
29, 1170, a "lion of religious liberty" and notes that even before
the Magna was drafted and the right to free exercise of religion was enshrined
in the U.S. Constitution, he gave his life in order that "the Church will
attain liberty and peace."
"When the crown attempted to encroach upon the affairs
of the house of God through the Constitutions of Clarendon, Thomas refused to
sign the offending document. When the furious King Henry II threatened to hold
him in contempt of royal authority and questioned why this 'poor and humble'
priest would dare defy him, Archbishop Becket responded 'God is the supreme
ruler, above Kings' and 'we ought to obey God rather than men,'" the
proclamation continues.
The Constitutions of Clarendon were comprised of 16 articles
defining church-state relations in England, which were designed to restrict
certain church privileges and restrain the power of its ecclesiastical courts.
As a result of his refusal to sign on, Becket was ultimately
forced to forfeit his property and flee the country. When he was eventually
allowed to return due to papal intervention, he persisted in his resistance to
the king's actions. The king's knights killed Becket after they gave him an
ultimatum to assent to the king's demands.
Becket's last words were: “For the name of Jesus and the
protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace death.”
Religious liberty advocates today regard Becket as a hero
for their cause in light of how his actions laid the foundation for government
protection of freedom of religion.
"Today we celebrate the anniversary of the martyrdom
(or for many, the feast day) of St. Thomas á Becket, the namesake for the
Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and an inspiration for our mission to defend
religious freedom for all as a human right free from government
intrusion," the legal group named after Becket tweeted Tuesday.
"Because he 'resolutely refused to render to Caesar
that which is God's', Thomas á Becket has become a symbol for religious
freedom. It is why our founder, Kevin 'Seamus' Hasson, named our non-profit
legal practice the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty."
The White House proclamation states that in honor of
Becket's memory, "the crimes against people of faith must stop, prisoners
of conscience must be released, laws restricting freedom of religion and belief
must be repealed, and the vulnerable, the defenseless, and the oppressed must
be protected."
"The tyranny and murder that shocked the conscience of
the Middle Ages must never be allowed to happen again. As long as America
stands, we will always defend religious liberty.
"A society without religion cannot prosper. A nation
without faith cannot endure — because justice, goodness, and peace cannot
prevail without the grace of God."
No comments