It is with these last words of Saint Thomas More, and an exemplary example of a humanist and saint, that the Saint Thomas More Society was founded in 1937, with the purpose of promoting the highest standards of ethics, civility, human dignity, justice, and knowledge in the practice of law, with the encouragement of traditional Catholic values and teachings.
***************
Saint Thomas More (14
78-1535) is the ideal of the Catholic lawyer. He was a man of scholarship and action; contemplative prayer and public life; dedication to family; and service to his country in the highest offices of the land. His distinguished service as a lawyer and judge, earned him the appointment of Lord Chancellor of England. While his work in the legal profession was exemplary, he resigned in 1532. More to approve the his divorce from his wife, and to take the Oath of Supremacy—which acknowledged that Henry VIII was the head of the Church of England instead of the Pope. , citing ill health, but the reason was probably his disapproval of Henry's stance toward the church. He was imprisoned and beheaded in London in 1535. Four hundred years later (in 1935) he was canonized as a saint and martyr. His feast day is celebrated on June 22nd.
