On the feast of St Thomas Beckett, it is interesting to note that among the issues in his conflict with Henry II was his insistence that clergy should be subject to ecclesiastical rather than civil courts for secular crimes.

Dec 29, 2018 · 4:20 PM UTC

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Only today, in the context of clergy sex abuse, has the church clearly rejected this principle. Pope Francis: “Hand yourselves over to human justice.” google.com/amp/s/www.mercury…

‘Hand yourself over to human justice’: Pope Francis tells priests guilty of abuse that the church...

Pope Francis used one of his major annual Christmas speeches to offer some of his strongest words yet on the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic church, telling guilty priests that the church won&a…

mercurynews.com
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The next bishop slain at the altar was 730 years later: Oscar Romero in El Salvador. Unlike Beckett, he did not die defending the prerogatives of the church, but the lives of the poor.
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Replying to @RobertEllsberg @austeni
Maybe Beckett knew the royal court would not be principled in its justice.