London - News that Thomas More had been made the patron saint of politicians by the Pope yesterday got a decidedly guarded reception in the home country of the "Man for All Seasons".
There was distinctly modified rapture from senior political figures in the British parliament, whose precincts include the spot where one of England's greatest statesmen was sentenced to death nearly 500 years ago.
And the Church of England said it did not want to comment on the man who was beheaded in 1535 for refusing to recognise King Henry VIII's supremacy in spiritual matters after he broke with Rome.
