Posted on 06/08/2006 4:31:17 AM PDT by Aussie Dasher
DEBATES in the New South Wales Parliament are notoriously brutal but MPs can take some comfort from the fact that unlike their patron saint, they won't be beheaded for their principles.
Sydney Catholic Archbishop Cardinal George Pell today unveiled a statue of St Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers, statesmen and politicians, in the Speaker's Garden at Parliament House in Sydney.
The bronze statue was a gift to the Parliament from the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.
St Thomas, who was born in 1477 or 1478, was executed in 1535 for high treason after refusing to publicly accept King Henry VIII was head of the Church of England.
He served as Speaker of the House of Commons and Lord Chancellor.
Some historians believe St Thomas was the first person to assert the right of MPs to speak freely in Parliament without the threat of prosecution or persecution.
Cardinal Pell said he hoped the statue would remind MPs of the moral qualities St Thomas embodied.
"I believe that this beautiful piece will always be a silent reminder in this place of the need for high principles, service to the truth and above all moral courage," he said.
St Thomas was not without flaws and had some unfortunate attitudes towards protestants, Cardinal Pell said.
"He regarded heretics the same way small `l' Liberals regard racists, while going further," he said.
"During his time as chancellor, six protestants were executed. We thank God that we've moved past such excesses."
Funny how the catholic church were happy to canonise a man who personally took it upon himself to whip and burn to death people who argued against catholicism. Thou shalt not kill, unless they are not catholics presumably!
He didn't personally do any of that. But heresy was a capital offense then.
Shouldn't he be called Saint Satan? After all that's where lawyers go afterwards.
LOL! No argument from me!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.