Martyr for religious freedom

Richard A. Sokerka

The Pew Research Center recently reported that government restrictions on religion worldwide (and in the U.S.) are at their highest point since 2007. This is a grave threat not only to our religious freedoms but also to human rights.

Globally, religious freedom protects human dignity, promotes security and supports American national security.

Here in our own nation anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism are increasing. Worship is called “non-essential” and churches are unnecessarily restricted in the number of people allowed to attend services by state government leaders. On college campuses, the existence of faith-based groups is being challenged and some are being called on to disband. The new administration has promised that one of its first priorities is to enact what will be a rights-crushing Equality Act that will further diminish religious freedoms.

Our Founding Fathers knew that religious freedom was necessary for each of us and ensured that the role of government was to protect that freedom. That is why it is in our First Amendment.

The importance of religious freedom was the focus of a proclamation issued at the White House Dec. 29 praising St. Thomas Becket, the English archbishop who was martyred 850 years ago after conflict with King Henry II over the rights of the Church.

“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 Beckett gave his life so that, as he said, ‘the Church will attain liberty and peace,’” President Donald Trump wrote in the proclamation.

“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of faith must stop, prisoners of conscience must be released, laws restricting freedom of religion and belief must be repealed, and the vulnerable, the defenseless and the oppressed must be protected. As long as America stands, we will always defend religious liberty.”

“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,” Trump’s proclamation said.

On Dec. 29, 1170, knights supportive of King Henry murdered Becket at Canterbury Cathedral, shortly after the bishop had prayed vespers.

“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.’

“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,” the president added.

“A society without religion cannot prosper. A nation without faith cannot endure — because justice, goodness and peace cannot prevail without the grace of God,” the proclamation stated.

In 2021, much like St. Thomas Beckett did, we need to stand up and defend any action by individuals or government leaders that in any way impinge on our constitutional right to religious freedom.