Through this month of July, almost every second day the Church has memorials for those who have suffered and been killed witnessing to their faith in Jesus Christ – not only our great English martyrs, Saints Thomas More and John Fisher, but for those committed to the truth of the faith and the Gospel.
Today alone there are two clear groups that witness not only to holiness but also to the power of fellowship.
St John of Cologne was a Dominican friar who was hanged and mangled on this day in 1572 in a barn in Gorkum (Gorinchem) in what is in our times, the Netherlands. He was killed along with 18 other religious, several secular priests, eleven Franciscan friars, an Augustinian and two Premonstratensians.
Their executioners were a rogue group of “Calvinist” rebels who despite the pleas of clemency by the Protestant Prince of Orange, roused up a wild mob to bundle the men to a mock trial and gallows. The horror of these outbursts of violence are contrasted by the dignity and unity of these diverse men, and it is reported that the mob was stunned to silence and some to tears when the victims sang hymns before they were put to death.
Also on this day, the Catholic and Orthodox Churches memorialise 120 known – and clouds of unknown – others who were martyred, often after dehumanising torture and suffering in China between 1648 and 1930.
The saints of China capture the entire range of vocations within the Christian life and include both native-born Chinese Christians and 33 missionaries from Europe and elsewhere. 87 of these heroic friends of Christ were Chinese lay people. Of the missionaries, most are remembered by their religious communities for their extraordinary lives and for the deep friendships they formed with the local people.
One outstanding priest was a Dominican, Francis de Capillas (1607-1648), who was killed along with “his companions”. What a richness of relationship and charity is hidden under that simple title: companions!
Fr Francis gives us an insight into his love for his fellow prisoners and his profound and peaceful faith:
“I am here with other prisoners, and we have developed a fellowship. They ask me about the Gospel of the Lord. I am not concerned about getting out of here because here I know I am doing the will of God. They do not let me stay up at night to pray, so I pray in bed before dawn. I live here in great joy without any worry, knowing that I am here because of Jesus Christ. The pearls I have found here these days are not always easy to find.”
What is shocking about this memorial is our realisation that there is a long and brutal persecution of Christians in China, but this grouping of saints only takes us up to 1930.
St Thomas More by Renaissance scholar, Dr Joanne Paul
This week the Thomas More Centre’s YouTube Channel uploaded a lively and interesting interview with the Renaissance history scholar Dr Joanne Paul and the TMC’s Mark Makowiecki about her most recent scholarship on our titular patron, St Thomas More.
Mark once again shows his skill for careful research in setting up an interview and for his gift of giving his subject latitude and intelligent questions, which bring out fascinating details not only of the person’s work but also of their personality.
It was a gracious interview, since Dr Paul’s new book is garnering much professional and media attention with her work and she is much in demand for lectures and appearances.
Dr Paul is interested in the intellectual, political and cultural setting of the English Tudor period and has published a number of well-received books about the families and influences of the time.
It is quite a feat to publish a fresh biography on the great English martyr and chancellor, as not only did St Thomas write many books, letters and other writings – the most notable are available in new publications here at Sceptre Press. Secondary studies and related books number in the hundreds.
Notable recent biographies with an interest in St Thomas More’s spiritual and moral weight are: Gerard Wegemer’s Thomas More: A Portrait of Courage and London-based architect Frank Mitjans’ Thomas More’s Vocation.
Dr Paul has by contrast devoted her critical research to the archives of the time to discover the man, Thomas More, in his own times and setting and to understand his intellect. She explains in the interview that what makes her approach is to research contemporaneous documents which provide more complex elements to More’s portrait.
She has been described by the BBC as a “new generation” scholar as she works across the traditional modes of book research, social media and film work with groups such as the History Studio.
The TMC interview concentrates on her 624-page study, Thomas More: A Life. Dr Paul describes two polarised traditions which dominate the study of Thomas More: one largely deriving from the Protestant writers which tend to vilify the man as an intolerant heresy hunter, and the second, the Catholic sources often written from afar which celebrate him simply as a saint.
Instead she acknowledges the “divisive” nature of Thomas More for history and for historians. In her interview however she suggests that More, while in a sense a “political failure” when compared to Thomas Cromwell, continues to inspire us today due to his commitment to the role of education and friendship, not only in the lives of all men but women as well.
You can find a review of Dr Paul’s most recent study of Thomas More here in the Literary Review.
Gratitude for our Perth supporters and the Home Conference
Our TMC Team will get together in Perth this week. We hope to have more news for the West while we also have a cultural and intellectual festival of ideas with our great friends at the Dawson Society’s Home Conference in Fremantle this week. If you are in Perth, you can register for the free public lecture here. Reports and news from this exciting event to follow!
With thanks to you, our friends around Australia and overseas, and to friends in both good and challenging times,
Anna Krohn
Executive Director
Thomas More Centre
Featured image of the Chinese Martyrs courtesy of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery, http://www.thehtm.org.
