[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 1 (Monday, January 4, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 215-217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-29226]



[[Page 213]]

Vol. 86

Monday,

No. 1

January 4, 2021

Part III





The President





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Proclamation 10129--850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas 
Becket



Executive Order 13969--Expanding Educational Opportunity Through School 
Choice
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  Federal Register / Vol. 86 , No. 1 / Monday, January 4, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 10129 of December 28, 2020

                
850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint 
                Thomas Becket

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Today is the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of 
                Saint Thomas Becket on December 29, 1170. Thomas Becket 
                was a statesman, a scholar, a chancellor, a priest, an 
                archbishop, and a lion of religious liberty.

                Before the Magna Carta was drafted, before the right to 
                free exercise of religion was enshrined as America's 
                first freedom in our glorious Constitution, Thomas gave 
                his life so that, as he said, ``the Church will attain 
                liberty and peace.''

                The son of a London sheriff and once described as ``a 
                low-born clerk'' by the King who had him killed, Thomas 
                Becket rose to become the leader of the church in 
                England. When the crown attempted to encroach upon the 
                affairs of the house of God through the Constitutions 
                of Clarendon, Thomas refused to sign the offending 
                document. When the furious King Henry II threatened to 
                hold him in contempt of royal authority and questioned 
                why this ``poor and humble'' priest would dare defy 
                him, Archbishop Becket responded ``God is the supreme 
                ruler, above Kings'' and ``we ought to obey God rather 
                than men.''

                Because Thomas would not assent to rendering the church 
                subservient to the state, he was forced to forfeit all 
                his property and flee his own country. Years later, 
                after the intervention of the Pope, Becket was allowed 
                to return--and continued to resist the King's 
                oppressive interferences into the life of the church. 
                Finally, the King had enough of Thomas Becket's 
                stalwart defense of religious faith and reportedly 
                exclaimed in consternation: ``Will no one rid me of 
                this meddlesome priest?''

                The King's knights responded and rode to Canterbury 
                Cathedral to deliver Thomas Becket an ultimatum: give 
                in to the King's demands or die. Thomas's reply echoes 
                around the world and across the ages. His last words on 
                this earth were these: ``For the name of Jesus and the 
                protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace 
                death.'' Dressed in holy robes, Thomas was cut down 
                where he stood inside the walls of his own church.

                Thomas Becket's martyrdom changed the course of 
                history. It eventually brought about numerous 
                constitutional limitations on the power of the state 
                over the Church across the West. In England, Becket's 
                murder led to the Magna Carta's declaration 45 years 
                later that: ``[T]he English church shall be free, and 
                shall have its rights undiminished and its liberties 
                unimpaired.''

                When the Archbishop refused to allow the King to 
                interfere in the affairs of the Church, Thomas Becket 
                stood at the intersection of church and state. That 
                stand, after centuries of state-sponsored religious 
                oppression and religious wars throughout Europe, 
                eventually led to the establishment of religious 
                liberty in the New World. It is because of great men 
                like Thomas Becket that the first American President 
                George Washington could proclaim more than 600 years 
                later that, in the United States, ``All possess alike 
                liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship'' 
                and that ``it is now no more that toleration is spoken 
                of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of 
                people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their 
                inherent natural rights.''

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                Thomas Becket's death serves as a powerful and timeless 
                reminder to every American that our freedom from 
                religious persecution is not a mere luxury or accident 
                of history, but rather an essential element of our 
                liberty. It is our priceless treasure and inheritance. 
                And it was bought with the blood of martyrs.

                As Americans, we were first united by our belief that 
                ``rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God'' and that 
                defending liberty is more important than life itself. 
                If we are to continue to be the land of the free, no 
                government official, no governor, no bureaucrat, no 
                judge, and no legislator must be allowed to decree what 
                is orthodox in matters of religion or to require 
                religious believers to violate their consciences. No 
                right is more fundamental to a peaceful, prosperous, 
                and virtuous society than the right to follow one's 
                religious convictions. As I declared in 
                Krasi[nacute]ski Square in Warsaw, Poland on July 6, 
                2017, the people of America and the people of the world 
                still cry out: ``We want God.''

                On this day, we celebrate and revere Thomas Becket's 
                courageous stand for religious liberty and we reaffirm 
                our call to end religious persecution worldwide. In my 
                historic address to the United Nations last year, I 
                made clear that America stands with believers in every 
                country who ask only for the freedom to live according 
                to the faith that is within their own hearts. I also 
                stated that global bureaucrats have absolutely no 
                business attacking the sovereignty of nations that wish 
                to protect innocent life, reflecting the belief held by 
                the United States and many other countries that every 
                child--born and unborn--is a sacred gift from God. 
                Earlier this year, I signed an Executive Order to 
                prioritize religious freedom as a core dimension of 
                United States foreign policy. We have directed every 
                Ambassador--and the over 13,000 United States Foreign 
                Service officers and specialists--in more than 195 
                countries to promote, defend, and support religious 
                freedom as a central pillar of American diplomacy.

                We pray for religious believers everywhere who suffer 
                persecution for their faith. We especially pray for 
                their brave and inspiring shepherds--like Cardinal 
                Joseph Zen of Hong Kong and Pastor Wang Yi of Chengdu--
                who are tireless witnesses to hope.

                To honor Thomas Becket's memory, the crimes against 
                people of faith must stop, prisoners of conscience must 
                be released, laws restricting freedom of religion and 
                belief must be repealed, and the vulnerable, the 
                defenseless, and the oppressed must be protected. The 
                tyranny and murder that shocked the conscience of the 
                Middle Ages must never be allowed to happen again. As 
                long as America stands, we will always defend religious 
                liberty.

                A society without religion cannot prosper. A nation 
                without faith cannot endure--because justice, goodness, 
                and peace cannot prevail without the grace of God.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim December 29, 2020, as 
                the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas 
                Becket. I invite the people of the United States to 
                observe the day in schools and churches and customary 
                places of meeting with appropriate ceremonies in 
                commemoration of the life and legacy of Thomas Becket.

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                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                fifth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2020-29226
Filed 12-31-20; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P