In an era whose politics are dominated by a culture of cynicism and convenience it is good to commemorate a man for whom principles were more important that short term gains. This Englishman was described by Jonathan Swift as "the person of the greatest virtue this kingdom ever produced". Historian Hugh Trevor-Roper said that this person was "the first great Englishman whom we feel that we know, the most saintly of humanists, the most human of saints, the universal man of our cool northern renaissance."

I refer to St Thomas More whose feast the Catholic Church celebrates today.

This great man was immortalised in plays and films; A Man for All Seasons being the most famous. Men of a lesser stature than him preferred compromising their conscience for the gain of earthly treasures. More preferred treasures which defy the test of time. His was not an easy position. He was the king’ servant and so was obliged to work for the king’s best interests.

The King wanted to marry again. He wanted the Pope to give him another dispensation cancelling the original dispensation. Henry was ready to stop at nothing. He was even ready to set up another church. Quite naturally the religious and political ramifications were intertwined. In the case of an ordinary citizen this would have been, at best, a question of conscience. In the case of Henry VIII the issue became an matter of state.

Wasn’t his act of disobedience to the king an ungrateful act tantamount to treason? While on the scaffold just a few moments before being beheaded Thomas More explained how he worked himself out of the dilemma. He declared that he died "the king's good servant, but God's first."

More was a man of principles and a man of vision. His principles and his vision cost him his head but won him – till this day – the respect of millions. His faith was the bedrock of his principles and the fount of his vision. His various books and treatises are witness to his erudition. One of the most famous is Utopia in which he sketched his political philosophy. Utopia was the imaginary country where property belonged to all, education was equally available to men and women, and there was almost complete religious toleration. This political philosophy was based on monastic communalism and the communalism of the first Christians as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles

Politicians today face similar dilemmas every day. It is not the will of the king that they have to grapple with. They are faced by the will of the people. Holding on to power or acquiring power is sometimes presented on a golden plate called popular opinion. Do things become right just because the majority wills them? Should winning be the be all and end all of politics?

Politics is the art of the possible and consequently compromise is of its essence. But are there no boundaries to compromise?

Thomas More is as relevant today as he was relevant in his contemporary sixteenth century society.