St. Thomas Becket

Since I am current reading the outstanding biography of St. Thomas More by Peter Ackroyd (The Life of Thomas More) it is interesting to make a comparison between this saint and the saint who is celebrated today -- St. Thomas Becket.

Interestingly they were both born within 20 yards of each other but a little over three hundred years apart. Both wore hair shirts under their fine clothing ,though Thomas More started doing this early in his life and Thomas Becket accepted the practice towards the end of their life. They both ended up being Load Chancellor and both ended up being martyred defending the rights of the Church against the King (Henry II, Henry VIII). In both cases this included defending the Primacy of Peter.

Though St. Thomas Becket is truly someone who grew in office. In the U.S. they refer to Supreme Court justices who become more liberal during their time on the court as growing in office, but Thomas Becket truly grew in office since he grew in holiness. No one would have pegged Thomas Becket as someone likely to be martyred earlier in his career. His appointment as the Archbishop of Canterbury was largely a political appointment with Henry II thinking he was stacking this position in his favor. Yet St. Thomas Becket became an ascetic and took his duties seriously and defended the Church against local control of the Church.

It has been reported that Henry II said "Who will rid me of this turbulent (or troublesome ) priest?" or something along that and his command was taken as authority to kill the Archbishop. You do wish there were more troublesome priests/bishops in England today that annoyed politicians.