Politicians get a patron saint

Sir Thomas was beheaded at the Tower of London

By David Willey in Rome

Pope John Paul II has announced that he is to declare Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor of England during the reign of Henry VIII, the patron saint of statesmen and politicians.

I think this is a coming of age for the Catholic Church in England today and I am sure that Thomas More, from his celestial vantage point, was smiling with approval

Catholic member of Britain's House of Lords Lord Alton

Just over four-and-a-half centuries ago Thomas More, a lawyer and politician who rose to one of the highest offices of state, was beheaded at the Tower of London for refusing to recognise the King of England's supremacy in spiritual affairs.

He was made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in 1936 and now, in response to a request to the Pope from politicians and former heads of state in many countries, he will be solemnly declared protector of the world's politicians.

Sir Thomas has been venerated as saint by the Anglican Church since 1980 and his popularity as a hero of conscience who refused to compromise his personal beliefs is now being given universal recognition by the Catholic Church.

Tribute

The former Italian President, Francesco Cossiga, was one of those who petitioned the Pope for the English statesman to be chosen for this honour.

The Pope will sign the declaration on 31 October

And Lord Alton, a Catholic member of Britain's House of Lords, came to pay his own tribute at the Vatican.

"By a peculiar sense of appropriate timing, on Monday of this week the very first Catholic since the Reformation, since the time of Thomas More, was elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons.

"And I think this is a coming of age for the Catholic Church in England today and I am sure that Thomas More, from his celestial vantage point, was smiling with approval of that decision," Lord Alton said.

The Pope will sign the document declaring Sir Thomas the patron of the world's politicians on 31 October.

It is all part of the jubilee celebrations being organised in Rome for members of parliament and politicians from many countries during this special millennium year of pilgrimage.