Saints John Fisher and Thomas More

John Fisher, born in Beverley in 1469, was a scholar, chancellor of Cambridge University and from 1504 bishop of Rochester, known for his preaching and care for his poor diocese. Thomas More, born in London in 1478, was a brilliant lawyer, husband and father, author of Utopia and a friend of the great scholars of Europe. In 1529 King Henry VIII made him Lord Chancellor of England.

When Henry sought to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and declared himself head of the Church in England, both men refused to swear the oath that rejected the Pope's authority. They were imprisoned in the Tower of London. Fisher, made a cardinal by Pope Paul III while in prison, was beheaded on June 22, 1535. More followed on July 6, declaring himself the king's good servant, but God's first. Pope Pius XI canonized them together in 1935.

Thomas More is the patron of lawyers and politicians, and in the US many dioceses hold a Red Mass for judges and attorneys. Pope John Paul II named him patron of statesmen in 2000. Their feast falls during the Religious Freedom Week promoted by the US bishops.

Catholic law schools and guilds honor More, and Fisher is patron of the Diocese of Rochester and of many Catholic colleges.