'Hoonoo'? Well, not me!

In mooching gently through various reports engendered by the breaking story that Martin Luther King was, in 'Pythonesque' terms, "a very naughty boy" I discovered a new fact which, of course, is hardly surprising given my general ignorance.  'Hoonoo', for example that MLK has a statue in Westminster Abbey?  Well, I didn't but even more surprising to me was that his statue is merely one amongst ten modern, er, 'saints' selected to have their statues placed in niches round the main entrance to the Abbey.  This occurred about twenty years ago.

What is even more embarrassing to an 'ignoramus' like me, is that MLK apart, I only recognised one of the names of the others - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Even so, I am not exactly sure what he did but I seem to recall that he was one of the few who offered vocal opposition to Hitler and his treatment of Jews.  Anyway, here is the entire list, and as I am on shopping duties this morning, I leave it to you to find who they are and why they qualify as, so to speak, 'latter day' saints:

MLK, Maximillian Kolbe; Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Manche Masemola (South Africa); Wang Zhiming; Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia (killed by revolutionaries); Bishop Luwum of Uganda (murdered by Idi Amin); Oscar Romero; Esther John (Pakistan); and Lucian Tapiedi (New Guinea).

My thanks to Randolph Parrish at The American Spectator.

 

 

Comments

[Whitewall]

Many saints are perched on alabaster pedestals. Being murdered seems to help one's application.

[Bob]

So, will you and the Mrs be living on tarts for a week?