Pres. Trump issued a proclamation for the 850th anniversary of the Martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket. Note, that in this proclamation, Pres. Trump mentions Card. Zen and the plight of Christians under the Communists. WhiteHouse.gov
Proclamation on 850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket
Today is the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket on December 29, 1170. Thomas Becket was a statesman, a scholar, a chancellor, a priest, an archbishop, and a lion of religious liberty.
Before the Magna Carta was drafted, before the right to free exercise of religion was enshrined as America’s first freedom in our glorious Constitution, Thomas gave his life so that, as he said, “the Church will attain liberty and peace.”
The son of a London sheriff and once described as “a low?born clerk” by the King who had him killed, Thomas Becket rose to become the leader of the church in England. 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.”
Because Thomas would not assent to rendering the church subservient to the state, he was forced to forfeit all his property and flee his own country. Years later, after the intervention of the Pope, Becket was allowed to return — and continued to resist the King’s oppressive interferences into the life of the church. Finally, the King had enough of Thomas Becket’s stalwart defense of religious faith and reportedly exclaimed in consternation: “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?”
The King’s knights responded and rode to Canterbury Cathedral to deliver Thomas Becket an ultimatum: give in to the King’s demands or die. Thomas’s reply echoes around the world and across the ages. His last words on this earth were these: “For the name of Jesus and the protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace death.” Dressed in holy robes, Thomas was cut down where he stood inside the walls of his own church.
Thomas Becket’s martyrdom changed the course of history. It eventually brought about numerous constitutional limitations on the power of the state over the Church across the West. In England, Becket’s murder led to the Magna Carta’s declaration 45 years later that: “[T]he English church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished and its liberties unimpaired.”
When the Archbishop refused to allow the King to interfere in the affairs of the Church, Thomas Becket stood at the intersection of church and state. That stand, after centuries of state-sponsored religious oppression and religious wars throughout Europe, eventually led to the establishment of religious liberty in the New World. It is because of great men like Thomas Becket that the first American President George Washington could proclaim more than 600 years later that, in the United States, “All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship” and that “it is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.”
Thomas Becket’s death serves as a powerful and timeless reminder to every American that our freedom from religious persecution is not a mere luxury or accident of history, but rather an essential element of our liberty. It is our priceless treasure and inheritance. And it was bought with the blood of martyrs.
As Americans, we were first united by our belief that “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God” and that defending liberty is more important than life itself. If we are to continue to be the land of the free, no government official, no governor, no bureaucrat, no judge, and no legislator must be allowed to decree what is orthodox in matters of religion or to require religious believers to violate their consciences. No right is more fundamental to a peaceful, prosperous, and virtuous society than the right to follow one’s religious convictions. As I declared in Krasi?ski Square in Warsaw, Poland on July 6, 2017, the people of America and the people of the world still cry out: “We want God.”
On this day, we celebrate and revere Thomas Becket’s courageous stand for religious liberty and we reaffirm our call to end religious persecution worldwide. In my historic address to the United Nations last year, I made clear that America stands with believers in every country who ask only for the freedom to live according to the faith that is within their own hearts. I also stated that global bureaucrats have absolutely no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that wish to protect innocent life, reflecting the belief held by the United States and many other countries that every child — born and unborn — is a sacred gift from God. Earlier this year, I signed an Executive Order to prioritize religious freedom as a core dimension of United States foreign policy. We have directed every Ambassador — and the over 13,000 United States Foreign Service officers and specialists — in more than 195 countries to promote, defend, and support religious freedom as a central pillar of American diplomacy.
We pray for religious believers everywhere who suffer persecution for their faith. We especially pray for their brave and inspiring shepherds — like Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong and Pastor Wang Yi of Chengdu — who are tireless witnesses to hope.
To honor Thomas 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.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 29, 2020, as the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket. I invite the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches and customary places of meeting with appropriate ceremonies in commemoration of the life and legacy of Thomas Becket.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
DONALD J. TRUMP
But, wait, I thought Trump was the absolute WORST ever (you know, existential threat to all of humanity . . .etc.), and that it won’t be until Biden takes the White House in January that we can finally get some REAL Catholic culture!?! You know, Eagles Wings and all that! At least, that’s what the Lincoln Project and National Review told me!!
In all seriousness, good on President Trump. I continue to say he’s much better than we deserve. Biden, on the other hand, is actually what we deserve. Think about it. And then beg God for mercy.
Hope your back is on the mends, Fr. Z. Back pain is a terrible, terrible thing. I regularly roll around on a tennis ball to release some of the muscles in my upper back. It feels terrible! I think it’s the modern equivalent of self-flagellation!
Next year, Biden will declare a special observance of December 28 for the Feast of the Holy Innocents… to honor Herod.
Makes me think of the youtube video on the Hermit of Loreto that was posted by a priest, Fr. Giacomo Capoverdi, who met an American man named Tom Zimmer about 20 years ago who was known as the “hermit of Loreto” who told him that Donald Trump was going to lead America back to God. The 8 minute video is worth a listen.
Yes, JerseyCatholic, I saw it here:
https://catholicismpure.wordpress.com/2017/02/20/hermit-of-loretos-1980s-premonition-about-president-trump/
It is a truly amazing prophecy. Tom Zimmer was clearly a very holy old man, one of the authors of the Pieta prayer book. If only the prophecy would come true!
President Trump is himself showing great courage – like the martyred Thomas Becket he heralds – in making this powerful proclamation at this time of great hostility from the Biden dems. It is tremendously significant in these times of the Wuhan devil that he made a special mention of the Christian persecution in China and of Cardinal Zen.
I never thought I would see the day when Donald Trump even came close to appearing to be more Catholic than many of our bishops and maybe even the Pope. I almost wish we could make Trump the next Pope as weird as that sounds. How low we have fallen when such as Trump rightfully shames our hierarchy. This culminates a truly wacky year.
If I had not seen it from the White House web site I would hardly have believed that a United States President made this proclamation. It gave me shivers. And he is not even Catholic (yet). God will honor those who honor him. Saint Thomas Becket, pray for him and intercede for us! Sooner than later, please . . .
Father,
I am forwarding this post haste to the Catholic Sentinel here in Portland. There is still time to headline it on page one of the next, the January 8th, issue.
@adriennep – If you have time, go look up President Trump’s previous proclamation on Holy Days. I think he’s one of if not the only President to issue proclamations on Ash Wednesday and All Souls Day.
Outstanding. Bravo Zulu to Pres. Trump. In Hoc Signo Vinces.
I eagerly look forward to many years of similar expressions made by our new Catholic President, especially considering how close he appears to be with Vatican leadership.
Taking the Catholic high ground from the Pope and from Archbishop Gregory who denounced him for visiting the shrine of JPII. Last thing they’d want is if he became Catholic and in the end died in the odor of sanctity.
Interesting. Those who follow these things more closely than I, tell me that the word on the streets is that this proclamation was ghost-written by Prof. Rachel Fulton Brown of the Univ. of Chicago History Department, who as just been appointed to the presidential Cultural Property Advisory Committee. Well, at least until January 20 . . .
My wife informs me Facebook will not let her share this proclamation. The President’s Christmas message was also blocked.
Scary times.
I regard as wishful thinking the internet rumor the Pres. Trump prays the rosary, but then I have been praying for his full conversion everyday since 2016.
The defense of religious liberty, and the defense of preborn human life, are two outstanding policies which the Trump administration championed.
jdt2: *chuckle* Deo volente that won’t happen, or we’ll probably see Charlie Brown replaced by a Saul Alinsky Christmas and a Pachamama Thanksgiving.
It’s great that the president has made this proclamation. It’s the sort of thing we ought to be getting from our bishops, but rarely do. St. Thomas Becket was martyred for the principle that the Church is not subservient to the State and that the State has no right to govern the affairs of the Church.
I have a reservation with regards to the extent to which St. Thomas championed religious liberty, however. I’m not sure that he would have advocated complete religious liberty, “the freedom to live according to the faith that is within their own hearts”. St. Thomas believed and preached only one faith, and believed in only one Church. I think he would have regarded anyone following the faith that is within his own heart – which may or may not be in accordance with the teachings of the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church – as potentially liable to damnation if by following his own heart rather than the teachings of the Church he fell away from the Catholic faith.