Many well-known quotes are attributed to the wrong person for one reason or another, notably Winston Churchill, who is often cited for quotes he did not originate, and Rahm Emanuel, who is widely credited with quoting the so-called Rahm Rule, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste,” which is a paraphrase of a teaching from Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals.”
So when Pope Francis recently invited a diverse group of comedians he met with in Rome, including Stephen Colbert and Whoopi Goldberg, to look into the “Goodwill Prayer,” which he said originated with Thomas More, accuracy seekers got to work.
Sir Thomas More (Saint Thomas More to Catholics) was, of course, the 16th century English philosopher and government official who had King Henry VIII beheaded because More refused to recognise him as head of the Church. Not surprisingly, popes revered More’s heroism (or folly, depending on your point of view) in defending the Church of Rome.
There seems to be some skepticism that More, a religious fanatic who was not considered a laughing stock in his day, actually wrote this light-hearted prayer. As New York Times editorial writer Peter Coy pointed out in a recent short piece arguing that More’s claim to authorship of the prayer is almost certainly false, the language simply doesn’t fit More’s austere style.
Lord, give me a sense of humor.
Give me the ability to understand the joke.
To get happiness from life
And tell other people about it.
In 1972, a More scholar identified the source as an Englishman who lived nearly 400 years after More and died at age 19 during the famously bloody Battle of the Somme in World War I. Coy wryly points out that the author was probably a Protestant.
The Pope told cartoonists that he has recited this prayer regularly for 40 years. In fact, he has said in the past that he offers “prayer of good humor” to martyred saints himself. Honor aside, it’s a great prayer, and God knows we all need a little more laughter these days.
Those of us in journalism are often (but, as attentive readers will point out, not always) eternally grateful to editors who prevent us from publishing such canonical errors. Catholic doctrinal disputes aside, even the Pope is not infallible and apparently needs an editor. And so do we all.
There are worse mistakes: at least the Pope didn’t get Thomas More’s name wrong.
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