A few words about St. Thomas

You may be wondering where this hagiographic shine comes from. You’ll see: On October 31, 2000, Saint John Paul II signed a Decree. Motu Proprio thereby proclaiming Tomás Moro the Patron of Politicians. digital print in spanish says La Croix As is known, he is a kind of unofficial spokesman for the Vatican in France. Since a section of the newspaper is devoted to timeless current affairs, and it’s logical to imagine that lying to you, lying to you, won’t do that, reading is essential in order to survive without slipping from the insults of the truth. Or if. But if the reward is glory, it’s worth it. After all, that’s what religions are. By the way, Marx said what his friends called “El Moro”, not because of the saint, but because it was so dark. I realize now that this is politically incorrect. Post-colonial, a concept that I’ve been reading about lately and that I love and repeat over and over again. So let’s avoid misunderstanding, the Moro applied to the saint is a Castilian, he was Thomas More, and if it were an inclusive language they would have called him Santo Tomás Más, but with double alliteration it is almost nonsense. Of course, I prefer the classic Latin version: Thomas Morus, the duty of the saint, which should be more useful for sermons and prayers.

Why this educated gentleman – wrote Utopia-, the Renaissance and the very religious reached the altars for the use and consumption of politicians? The answer is simple: he tried to combine his beliefs and managerial skills, so King VIII. It was a state matter. The total is that the monarch sees fit to behead him. I will tell you no more: a politician as God intended. So much so that the Catholic Church included him on the list of the blessed in 1885, and in 1935 on the list of saints who have a direct dialogue with God. But as he flies, the Anglican Church recognized him as a Reformation martyr in 1980. Then everyone is happy.

There were other candidates. A curious one: Saint Thomas Beckett, another Englishman, was also chancellor of a king named Henry II- who was assassinated in his own church in Canterbury for a political debate. He is also considered a martyr by Catholics and Anglicans. Or St. John of Nepomucene got involved in gangs at the Bohemian court, which badly cost him to be thrown into the Vltava River for failing to reveal to the king what the queen had said to him at the confession. It was a good option: after all, the management of secrets and the interpretation of what the Boss wanted to say before formulating his wishes is one of the functions that should adorn politicians. If I’m not mistaken, Nepomuceno had to settle for being Boss of the Confessors, which is no small feat. Then we have the more inclusive Saint Joan of Arc, but the Church did not do well in entrusting the political flock to a lady in armor, incapable of negotiation, convinced that her reality was pervasive, and willing to hold a spear over the opposition. .

On the other hand, we have many nobles, kings and queens raised on altars: Canute of Denmark, Stephen of Hungary, Saint Elizabeth the benevolent – who turns bread into flowers to escape her husband’s tricks. bad -, Vladimir of Kiev—I swear it’s true—, Osvaldo de Bernicia, Dagoberto II, Edmund of East Anglia, Tamara of Georgia, Sigismund, king of the Burgundians, Zuentibold of Lotharingia, also had the pleasure of being assassinated. or Tridates III of Armenia. There are many more, but I collect their virtues and miracles. From time to time the desire to glorify Isabella of Castile is rekindled, precisely what Catholic Spain gave for something other than killing the Moors, but of another kind: Before we go any further, there is Fernando el Santo; Ramiro the Monk had a quick temper that caused nobles to beheaded in a way that was not uncommon in the Vatican. And Saint Hermenegildo, but he was a Visigoth and was killed by his father, who was an Arian after all, that says little about his Spanish roots. The downside of entrusting the patronage to the Kings is that the same thing changes later, and let’s see what you do: Saint Juan Carlos of the Emirates and Saint Corina of Mis Amores I don’t know, I don’t know.

Therefore, I strongly urge active politicians and politicians – and even passive ones – to pray to Tomás Moro-Morus-More to take advantage of June 22, although they may think about it, they certainly have something to pray for. Some may even repeat the demand for a miracle and utopian salvation. Because arrogance is a very bad adviser to people in politics, especially if it feeds off the continued flattery of servants who have no more imagination than they lend to praise, who keeps listening or whispering pleasant and important arguments in their ears: “How well have you done! How right you are!” Let the politician reckon that these gossip used him to cover up their grief or to maintain their calm routine, but that they and theirs fell under the necessarily benevolent gaze of the divine court in heaven, not in his office.

Take care of politics or politicians at the very special opportunity presented to him by the worthy will of His Holiness, pray to stay away from judges and other powerful people, even if you descend into their logic. It is better to run away as soon as possible. It is better to use in his prayer the techniques he learned in strenuous parliamentary activities or the glory days of television, and to use language endowed with the power of paradox and the ability to put a candle to God and Satan. Without abuse. God forbid. and II. Note that John Paul’s statement refers to the fact that the king was “a martyr of liberty in the most modern sense of the term” because he wanted to control consciences. If that’s not exactly it, I don’t know what other holy kings who were duly Catholic did. However, let’s not forget that it is not appropriate for the politician to be too meticulous in matters of consistency, that he has a whim every day. It is said that Santo Tomás Moro asked an attendant who was there to help him on his way to the pier, because “I will manage to go down alone”. He was not mistaken, he did not descend: as evidenced, he ascended into the sky. Amine.