Our Patron

Saint Thomas More was born in London on 7 February 1477/8. He was son of Sir John More, lawyer and judge. As a youngster and later as a young man, he learnt the classical languages, as well as, French, history and mathematics. As a lawyer, under the inspiration of the Italian Renaissance, he construed law more from the point of reason and independent thinking rather than just mere legalistic interpretation. A devout Roman Catholic, More had a strong prayer life and always made use of the Sacraments of the Church. He always spoke candidly, and, as one biographer put it because of his sincerity, “He seems born and framed for friendship.”

In 1516, he wrote the Utopia, his best known work. This composition was a critique on the conflict between humanism and Christianity in society. He believed in the humanistic approach, that is, the use of reason and its application to resolve matters of daily life, which in turn would contribute to the common good of society. This he believed, so long as, one did not depart from the teachings of Christ which subsist fully within the Roman Catholic Church. For, if reason does not rely on faith, man and society ultimately break down. Thus, he presented what would be the “ideal” community on earth even if he understood that it could not be achieved, nor morally realised under natural law. For, it would be a community based on mere and immediate utilitarian ends, which in would go against the divine precepts.

In 1532, as a result of continued pressure by King Henry VIII to support him in his quest for a divorce from Queen Catherine of Aragon for dynastic reasons, Thomas More resigned from his post as Lord Chancellor of England. It was not just that the king opposed the pope, Clement VII, on this regard, the latter refusing to annul the marriage. But the fact that Henry sought to establish himself as supreme head of the Church in England. Consequently, he would be usurping the office and authority of the pope that was granted to him by Christ himself as successor to St. Peter. In his refusal, More was accused of treason and imprisoned in the Tower of London. It was then that he wrote his greatest works, Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation and a Treatise on the Passion of Christ. They were reflections on how we must remain firm in conscience to Christ and his Church, “We must for the perceiving of the old faith from new, stand to the writings of old doctors and saints…and specially we must also stand in this matter of faith to the determinations of Christ’s Catholic Church.” For if one stays faithful to Christ and his Church, “God rewardeth the sufferer in proportion to his pain.” Despite his profound suffering and loneliness, he preferred to follow his conscience and obey God before man with the hope of inheriting eternal life.

Thomas More was beheaded at Tower Hill on 6 July 1535. He was canonized by Pope Pius the XI in 1935 and declared patron saint of lawyers and politicians by Pope John Paul II in 2000.