Pope Leo XIV commends Becket Fund for ‘noble task’ of defending religious freedom in U.S.

The Holy Fatherʼs remarks were read at the 2026 Canterbury Medal Gala, an annual event held by the nonprofit law firm that represents clients who are defending their religious liberty in court.

PHILADELPHIA — Affirming that the right to religious freedom is “the cornerstone of any just society,” Pope Leo XIV praised the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty for more than 30 years of “great efforts to defend this right” in a message to the organization delivered on June 11.

The Holy Father offered the commendation to participants at the 2026 Canterbury Medal Gala, an annual event held by the nonprofit law firm that represents clients defending their religious liberty in court. The message, dated June 4, was read by Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez.

Leo noted that the defense of “religious liberty as an integral part of upholding dignity” acquires “particular significance as the United States of America prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its foundation.”

Reflecting on the history of his American homeland, Leo said: “Indeed, we can recognize in the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence an expression of the truth regarding the human person. Namely, the innate dignity of every man and woman, created by God in his own image and likeness, and the rights that stem therefrom.”

Speaking directly on the efforts of the Becket Fund, the pope said the organization works “to safeguard the dignity of the human person” by “ensuring that all men and women are free to act in conformity with the dictates or their conscience and to practice their faith openly, without coercion or fear.”

“As you continue this noble task, it is my hope that every individual will embark upon the pursuit of truth sincerely and without fear,” the Holy Father said, adding that “the Scriptures tell us that truth itself has a name, Jesus Christ (cf. Jn 14:6), and that God will undoubtedly aid those who search for him with all their heart (cf. Jer 29:13).”

2026 Canterbury medalist

At the event, William P. “Bill” Mumma — the longtime board chairman of the Becket Fund and former CEO of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, Japan’s largest financial services company — was awarded Becket’s highest honor, the Canterbury Medal.

The medal draws its name from one of history’s most dramatic religious liberty standoffs, that which occurred between Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas à Becket, the law firm’s namesake, and King Henry II of England.

Mumma served as the Becket Fund’s full-time volunteer CEO from 2011 to 2021 and continues to serve as the organization’s board chairman. In his remarks accepting the award, Mumma said that religious liberty “has to be defended.”

“The last 50 years have taught us not to take it for granted,” Mumma continued. “I urge all of you to redouble your commitment to this noble cause.”

Past Canterbury medalists include the late Nobel Peace laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel; Cuban poet and former political prisoner Armando Valladares; Orthodox rabbi of the oldest Jewish congregation in the U.S., Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik; First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Dallin H. Oaks; and 62nd Chaplain of the U.S. Senate Barry C. Black.

With Philadelphia’s Independence Hall forming a backdrop as he spoke to the gathering at the National Constitution Center, current Becket President and CEO Mark Rienzi noted that “religious freedom is at the heart of the American story.”

For 250 years, Rienzi said, U.S. religious freedom “has enabled people of differing and conflicting beliefs to live together in peace.”

“Becket exists to ensure that each new generation of Americans can write its own chapter of that story. We look forward to carrying our mission into America’s next 250 years,” he said.