10/29/00

St. Thomas More:
law, politics and conscience

St. Thomas More (1478-1535), Lord Chancellor of England and martyr for the Catholic faith, has been for many years the patron saint of lawyers. The Catholic Lawyers Guild here in the Archdiocese has him as its patron. There is good reason for his being the patron of lawyers, since he was one himself and was a master of legal argument. As a saint, he was also a master of that difficult moral terrain where law meets conscience.

Because St. Thomas More did not believe, in conscience, that the King of England could make himself the visible head of the Church, even in England, he was beheaded after a trial marked by false testimony against him. While the evidence against him was trumped up and false, the charge against him was true. The King, himself a man of conscience, knew where his former Chancellor stood in that sanctuary we call conscience. A man of false conscience could not stand even the prudent silence of a man of true conscience.

Four hundred years after St. Thomas More, another English Catholic, John Henry Newman, described conscience as "a messenger of Him who, both in nature and in grace, speaks to us behind a veil, and teaches and rules us by his, representatives. Conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ" (from Newman's 1875 Letter to the Duke of Norfolk) . In order to be aware of the moral law imprinted in our hearts by God, we have to be present to ourselves, capable of right reflection, educated to make morally correct judgments and able to assume responsibility for our actions. Because we are susceptible to error and sin, the formation of conscience is not an easy task. We are swayed by many influences besides our own inclination to the good and the force of God's, grace.

While each person must follow his or her conscience in particular cases, conscience is itself judged by the moral law An appeal to personal conscience is not the last word, unless one is a moral egotist. Both Thomas More and Henry VIII had delicate consciences. Both followed their consciences. One became a saint, and the other we leave to the mercy of God. The King's "right" to follow his conscience meant that his Chancellor could not follow his, and More was put to death. We are seeing the same dynamic being played out in public life today when someone's "right" to an abortion is beginning to mean that Catholic medical institutions will be deprived. of the right to exist unless they agree to do the killing.

St. Thomas More's last writings were not legal but spiritual. As he awaited trial and execution, he wrote in prison a series of reflections on the sufferings of Christ. In the end, the Christ he knew from conscience and Gospel gave him the strength to go bravely to his death, "the King's good servant, but God's first."

Last week, St. 'Thomas More became also the patron saint of politicians. While he was clearly a lawyer, it is more difficult, it seems to me, to consider More a politician. He held public office, but he never ran for it as politicians do in a democracy. He held office at the discretion of the King, not the people.

It would, however, have been interesting to see how Thomas More, so careful in his use of words, so cautious in his staking out a moral position, would have run a modern political campaign. After his opening prayer at a debate, what would he have said? Would he have argued against his opponent as well as for the position he believed right? At least, we can be sure he would not have used words to deceive.

In the current political campaign, words are being used to deceive. In somewhat different ways, both Mr. Bush and Mr. Gore espouse positions that are at least partially incompatible with Catholic moral and social teaching; but the issue here is deception. Mr. Gore, when talking to Catholic interviewers, has taken to calling for "common ground" on abortion, despite his total opposition to any, initiative which would place limits on the current policy of abortion on demand. The Vice President explains that he would sign a bill limiting partial-birth. abortions, although only with a proviso about health. But "health" covers everything from anxiety over the raising of a child to genuine danger to a mother's life. In. other words, in truthful words, a law with a "health" exception would not at all restrict the practice of partial-birth or any other kind of abortion. Mr. Gore is captive to Catholics for a Free Choice and other groups which are intolerant of the teaching of the Catholic Church and oppose it at every opportunity. Given the internal politics of his own party, Mr. Gore's position is understandable. What is not understandable is deception about his position, using words which mask what he holds. I can't imagine any informed Catholic being deceived, but it's insulting to be played with in this manner. What is worse, the deception is sometimes propagated by Catholic media which make themselves shills for positions they are told they cannot criticize because of the separation of Church and state. The separation of Church and state works itself out in funny ways during a political campaign. There are churches which piously invoke "separation" when opposing the appointment of a U.S. ambassador to the Holy See or when discussing public funding for non-government schools. Often, these are the same churches which invite candidates into their pulpits during a political campaign and effectively instruct their people how to vote. Can anyone imagine the public furor that would break out if I invited a candidate for the presidency to take the pulpit at Sunday Mass at Holy Name Cathedral? "Separation' for Catholics means something different than it does for others in this republic.

All things considered, I believe it's just as well that it does. Still, St. Thomas More has a lot of work to do. Taking on the lawyers is hard enough; now he has to take care of the politicians. During these last days of the electoral campaign, pray to St. Thomas More for all the candidates. And pray for one another, that we might have, the courage to vote with consciences formed by the teaching of the Church. God bless you.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago

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