    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 134, 116th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    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

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    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.'';
    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 Krasiński 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

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    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.
    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.
    DONALD J. TRUMP