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.
from Sleepy Hollow, NY
Agree with the analysis. Just a footnote of distinction: Romero was technically killed for ordering soldiers in the name of God to disobey secular authorities, so, in a sense, he was on the same page as Beckett, just from an upside down world.
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