On the feast of St Thomas Beckett, it is interesting to note that among the issues in his conflict with Henry II was his insistence that clergy should be subject to ecclesiastical rather than civil courts for secular crimes.
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Only today, in the context of clergy sex abuse, has the church clearly rejected this principle. Pope Francis: “Hand yourselves over to human justice.”
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The next bishop slain at the altar was 730 years later: Oscar Romero in El Salvador. Unlike Beckett, he did not die defending the prerogatives of the church, but the lives of the poor.
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I appreciate this memorial about my father by @ggrenwald above any I have read today--for his comprehensive review of his bio & history, for his attention to themes generally overlooked about his post-Vietnam life, but particularly for deep appreciation of his human qualities.🙏
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Here's my @RollingStone article on Daniel Ellsberg, the heroic Pentagon Papers leaker who died today at 92:
"We’re Told Never to Meet Our Childhood Heroes. Knowing Daniel Ellsberg Proved That Wrong"
rollingstone.com/politics/polit
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