850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket

Proclamation 10129 of December 28, 2020

850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint
Thomas Becket

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

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[nacute]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.