Back from Rome . . . and Happy St. Thomas Garnet day

I am just back from Rome and Florence, after (among other things) a great conference of comparative-law, constitutional law, and church-state scholars who gathered to discuss and celebrate the work of Mary Ann Glendon, a pilgrimage to the tomb and remains of the Apostle Peter, and an audience (with 100,000 or so close friends) with Papa Francesco.  I'll have more thoughts on the Glendon conference in another post. 

For now, I just want to wish everyone (one day late) a happy "St. Thomas Garnet" day (which also happens to be the birthday of my son Tommy Garnett).  St. Thomas Garnet (S.J.) was, as it happens, the son of a lawyer named Richard Garnet, and the nephew of Henry Garnet, the head of the Jesuits in late-16th century England and -- like Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More, whose feast we celebrated this weekend and continue to reflect upon during the "Fortnight for Freedom" -- a martyr.