A new exhibit is open daily at the St. John Paul II Shrine in Washington, D.C., until March 31, 2017. Its title — “God’s Servant First: The Life and Legacy of Thomas More” — refers to More’s last words before being beheaded: “I die the King’s good servant, and God’s first.”
The exhibit zeroes in on the events leading to More’s
execution by King Henry VIII, beginning with Pope Clement VII’s refusal to
declare null Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The King responded by
proclaiming himself the Supreme Head of the Church in England so that he could
grant himself the annulment and marry his mistress Anne Boleyn. More knew that
publicly opposing the king would endanger his family, so he resigned as
Chancellor of England and kept silent. But because of More’s reputation for
learning and virtue, Henry was determined to have More approve his marriage,
and consequently enacted a law requiring his subjects to acknowledge his
headship of the English Church. When More refused to do so, he was imprisoned,
convicted of treason, and beheaded.
So, More lost his head because he was willing to
give his life for the truth. Henry wanted to believe that he could dissolve his
marriage on his own authority, and wanted More to support him in this. More
refused, bearing witness to the truths of papal authority and the
indissolubility of marriage.
While arguing that More’s example helped promote
the spread of religious liberty in America and the world, the exhibit also
describes the history of anti-Catholicism in the U.S., and ends with an ominous
quote from G. K. Chesterton: Thomas More “is more important at this moment than
at any moment since his death … but he is not quite so important as he will be
in about a hundred years time.”
What does
Chesterton mean? More is particularly relevant to our times because he
was a martyr for the liberty that is now threatened by the American
government’s increasing efforts to force Catholics to act against their
consciences on such issues as contraception and gay marriage.
The exhibit is spot on about More’s relevance
for our times, as Christians are facing an attack by government authority on
the truth about marriage. Just as Henry denied its indissolubility, today our
government denies that it is solely between a man and a woman, and that
contraception is contrary to its very nature. Like Henry, our government
wishes to compel our assent to what we know to be untrue. Like More, we must
respond by witnessing to the truth, even if it means suffering persecution,
which will come.
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