A Man for All Seasons - 1 of 2

A Man for All Seasons – 1 of 2
In pursuit of the truth – cinops be gone – Saturday, January 17, 2009

The following are excerpts from Archbishop Charles J. Chaput’s book, Render unto Caesar, and Chapter 9 with the above title:

Over the centuries, a great many saints and sinners have shaped the course of society. But the undisputed icon of the Catholic political vocation is the “heavenly patron of statesmen and politicians,” as Pope John Paul II called him in 2000, Saint Thomas More.

Anyone unfamiliar with More’s life can simply watch the 1966 film version of Robert Bolt’s play, A Man for All Seasons! It’s a story of love and betrayal, of service and treachery, of a very human man trying to follow his conscience and the unsavory men responsible for his demise.

More’s appeal springs from the desire we all share to lead a life of conviction, courage and love. More stands as a witness against cowardice. Why did his peers need him to publicly endorse Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon, marriage to Anne Boleyn, and power over the church? Why did anyone care? The answer is character. Then, as now, fidelity to principle was worth more than gold.
He disciplined himself to be a man of piety. His morning prayer and Mass routine, his fasting and hair shirt, have become symbols of his devotion.

The grandson and son of prominent London lawyers, More learned very early the honor in serving one’s nation. More’s studies prepared him for a life of public service, primarily in law. But his education also included the classics: the ancient Greeks, Romans and early church fathers; philosophy, theology, history, and literature. He had a shrewd insight into human nature, political society and the role of law.

Through his private life, More teaches us the beauty of family, friendship, and love. In public life, More teaches us the gravity of politics and use and misuse of state authority. All law, on issues from jaywalking to homicide, is rooted in morality because it codifies what we ought to do. Ought is morally loaded word.

As the former jurist Robert Bork wrote:
"For More, morality was superior to both human law and the will of the sovereign in that it could be used to shape or to alter that law and that will, though not to justify disobedience to it."

More obeyed his conscience because he knew he was obligated to obey God first. He saw that his Catholic formation of conscience depended on everything the Protestant reformers of his day seemed ready to destroy: authority, tradition, and law. More accepted the authority of his king, but he could not accept Henry’s claim to supreme spiritual authority because More knew his duty was to a higher law. His sacrifice was not an act of self-assertion. It was the opposite. It was an act of obedience. Only thus do More’s last words make sense as he neared the
scaffold:
“I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.:

Given the power of the United States, the witness of Thomas More has value for every Catholic public official, today more than ever. NO DISCORD EXISTS BETWEEN CATHOLIC THOUGHT AND DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY WHEN BOTH ARE PROPERLY UNDERSTOOD.

(P.S. Robert Casey Sr., Pennsylvania’s governor from 1987 -1995 met the challenge of St. Thomas More. Two others didn’t. ghk)
George H. Kubeck