Taking the Catholic Pulse
Sign In
  • John Allen Jr.
    • John Allen Jr.
    • Charles Collins
    • Elise Ann Allen
    • Nirmala Carvalho
    • Eduardo Campos Lima
    • Christopher R. Altieri
    • Ngala Killian Chimtom
    • Stephan Uttom Rozario
    • Vatican
    • U.S.
    • UK and Ireland
    • Middle East
    • Americas
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Oceania
    • Interviews
    • Videos
    • Podcast
    • Last Week in the Church
  • Support Us
  • About Us
    • Contact Details
    • Advertising
    • Email Updates

  

    

       

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Crux
© 2025 Crux Now Media, LLC
Privacy & Cookie Policy
CruxTaking the Catholic Pulse
  • About Crux
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising
  • Videos
  • Support Us
Podcast:
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • Podcast Index
  • Amazon Music
  • Google Podcasts
  • TuneIn

Quick Links

  • Currents News
  • Magisterium
  • Vulgate
  • VMR Communications
  • DeSales Media Group in the Diocese of Brooklyn

Comey, Trump and this ‘meddlesome priest’

By Jessica Estepa
Jun 11, 2017
|Religion News Service
Share
Comey, Trump and this ‘meddlesome priest’

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 8, 2017. (Credit: Photo courtesy of Reuters/Jonathan Ernst.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – James Comey likened President Trump’s suggestion to drop the Michael Flynn investigation to an English monarch’s indirect order to kill the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, asked whether Comey interpreted certain phrases  from the president of the United States, such as “I hope” or “I suggest,” as directives.
“Yes. It kind of rings in my ears as, ‘Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?’” Comey replied.

“Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest” #Comey again questioned about his interpretation of ‘hope’ as a directive. pic.twitter.com/VnrH4u9Wly

— ABC News (@abcnews) June 8, 2017

Comey was quoting a well-known saying from Henry II. Back in 1170, the king of England was years into a quarrel with Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, over the rights of the church. Henry II is often quoted as saying, “Will no one rid of me of this turbulent priest?” His men interpreted this as the king wanting Becket dead. Soon after, Becket was assassinated.
Becket was later venerated as a saint:

Thomas Becket went on to become a saint, FYI.

— Carlos Lozada (@CarlosLozadaWP) June 8, 2017

(Estepa writes for USA Today)

Share

Latest Stories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Stories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most Popular

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Last Week in the Church
Last Week in the Church
Keep Crux Independent
Last Week in the Church with John Allen Jr.

Tuesdays on

Tuesdays on YouTube
Tuesdays on YouTube
  • Apple PodcastsApple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • Podcast Index
  • Amazon MusicAmazon Music
  • Google PodcastsGoogle Podcasts
  • TuneIn

Crux. Anytime. Anywhere.

Today's top stories delivered straight into your inbox.

Latest
Former Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, a Catholic, convicted in landmark national security trial
Bishop Steve Wood of St. Andrew’s Church thanks health care workers at East Cooper Medical Center, where he was a patient fighting COVID-19 easier in the year, during an evening event to honor health care workers at East Cooper Medical Center Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. (Credit: Grace Beahm Alford/The Post And Courier via AP.)

Anglican archbishop accused of sexual misconduct faces a church trial

  • Dec 13
  • Peter Smith, 
    Associated Press
A fresco depicting Jesus as the "Good Shepherd" adorns the wall of a 3rd-century tomb in Hisardere, where archaeologists uncovered one of Anatolia's best-preserved early Christian artworks, in Iznik, Turkey, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Credit: Khalil Hamra/AP.)

Rare fresco of Jesus as the ‘Good Shepherd’ uncovered in Turkish town visited by the pope

  • Dec 13
  • Mehmet Guzel, 
    Andrew Wilks, Associated Press
Pope Leo XIV presides over Mass on Gaudete Sunday and during the Jubilee of Prisoners in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on Dec. 14, 2025. (Credit: Vatican Media.)

Pope Leo calls on governments to grant pardons for prisoners during Jubilee year

  • Dec 14
  • Crux Staff
A doll representing the baby Jesus is zip-tied in the Nativity scene outside of Lake Street Church of Evanston, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (Credit: Erin Hooley/AP.)

Church Nativity scenes add zip ties, gas masks and ICE to protest immigration raids

  • Dec 13
  • Leah Willingham, 
    Associated Press
Comey, Trump and this ‘meddlesome priest’ | Crux
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks during a taping of FOX News Channel’s Special Report with Bret Baier at the Washington bureau of FOX News, Oct. 23, 2025, in Washington. (Credit: Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP.)

Illinois becomes 12th state to provide medically assisted suicide

  • Dec 13
  • John O'Connor, 
    Associated Press
Bishop Steve Wood of St. Andrew’s Church thanks health care workers at East Cooper Medical Center, where he was a patient fighting COVID-19 easier in the year, during an evening event to honor health care workers at East Cooper Medical Center Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. (Credit: Grace Beahm Alford/The Post And Courier via AP.)

Anglican archbishop accused of sexual misconduct faces a church trial

  • Dec 13
  • Peter Smith, 
    Associated Press
A doll representing the baby Jesus is zip-tied in the Nativity scene outside of Lake Street Church of Evanston, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (Credit: Erin Hooley/AP.)

Church Nativity scenes add zip ties, gas masks and ICE to protest immigration raids

  • Dec 13
  • Leah Willingham, 
    Associated Press
This Dec. 1, 2012 file photo shows a silhouette of a crucifix and a stained glass window inside a Catholic Church in New Orleans. (Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP.)

A list of the largest clergy abuse settlements reached by Catholic organizations in the US

  • Dec 9
  • Associated Press
People wait to enter the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts ahead of the verdict for Hong Kong activist publisher Jimmy Lai’s national security trial, in Hong Kong, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Credit: Chan Long Hei/AP.)

Former Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, a Catholic, convicted in landmark national security trial

  • Dec 15
  • Kanis Leung, 
    Associated Press
Vice President Sara Duterte leads the year-end celebration of the Office of the Vice President, in this photo posted on her Facebook account, Dec. 14, 2025. (Credit: Inday Sara Duterte/Facebook.)

Filipino activist priests file plunder complaint against VP Duterte

  • Dec 15
  • Joseph San Mateo
Police are seen in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Aug. 28, 2025. (Credit: Andre Penner/AP.)

Catholics denounces restrictions on spiritual assistance in Brazilian prisons

  • Dec 15
  • Eduardo Campos Lima
Father and son gunmen kill at least 15 people in attack on Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach

Father and son gunmen kill at least 15 people in attack on Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach

  • Dec 15
  • Kristen Gelineau, 
    Rod McGuirk, Associated Press