Our Namesake and Our Inspiration

St. Thomas More was a lawyer and author who lived a life of scholarship and faith in 15th and 16th century England. He was martyred for his refusal of both King Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn and the establishment of the king as the head of the Church of England, denying the primacy of the Pope. He was imprisoned over his conflict with the king, but remained dedicated to his letters and steadfast in his Catholic faith. At his execution, More famously told the gathered crowd that he was dying as “the king’s good servant-but God’s first.”