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Patron Saint of Politicians

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome that tomorrow, Pope John Paul the Second will proclaim Thomas More the patron saint of statesmen and politicians. Thomas More, the Renaissance humanist, jurist, diplomat and author of Utopia, is revered by Christians as a symbol of integrity and conscience. He was beheaded by King Henry the Eighth for refusing to recognize the monarch as England's supreme spiritual leader. The suggestion to make Thomas More the patron saint of politicians came first from former Italian president Francesco Cossiga.

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