President Trump
Donald Trump Georgia’s signature audit finds no fraud during presidential election. Pompeo calls for release of Chinese journalist jailed for coronavirus coverage. Pence refused to be signed to reverse the election, advocates say MORE. issued a proclamation on Monday in celebration of the 850th anniversary of the death of Thomas Becket, an English archbishop and saint who was assassinated in 1170 by knights of King Henry II.
“Before the Magna Carta was drafted, before the right to freedom of religion was established as America’s first freedom in our glorious Constitution, Thomas gave his life so that, as he put it, ‘the Church will have freedom and peace.’ , Trump wrote in a statement.
In his proclamation, Trump called for “an end to religious persecution worldwide.”
According to the BBC, Becket was an archbishop born around 1120 and frequently clashed with Henry over the rights and independence of the Catholic Church. His life and assassination were the subject of countless artistic works, including famous plays by Alfred Tennyson and Jean Anouilh.
“The martyrdom of Thomas Becket has changed the course of history,” Trump said in a statement. “This eventually led to numerous constitutional restrictions on the power of the state over the church in the West. In England, Becket’s assassination 45 years later led to the declaration of the Magna Carta that: ‘[T]the Church of England will be free, and its rights will be unlimited and its freedoms intact. ‘
At the end of his proclamation, the president wrote: ‘A society without religion cannot prosper. A people without faith cannot endure – for righteousness, goodness and peace cannot rule without the grace of God. “