Becket's 2025 Canterbury Medal Gala
…I take religious liberty so seriously because I take religion so seriously. And, secondly, because religion is not only a good, but its freedom is a given—a given, not by any government or charter, but a given inherent in the dignity of the human person, a given by God. Thus is religious liberty not a hobby or a nice idea, but a fact, a given, part of our very nature that cannot be erased.
-His Eminence, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archdiocese of New York
The 2025 Canterbury Medal Gala honored His Eminence, Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan for his lifelong commitment to the cause of religious liberty. As a shepherd of the Church, a national Catholic leader, and former president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops—where he also served as chairman of its Committee for Religious Liberty—Cardinal Dolan’s career has been marked by an unwavering defense of religious liberty for all.
Read Cardinal Dolan’s Keynote Speech
2025 Legal Service Award
Becket was pleased to bestow the 2025 Legal Service Award to Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, for their efforts to fight university campus antisemitism.
Davis Polk is one of the world’s leading law firms, and regularly commits tens of thousands of hours to pro bono service, dedicating several full-time senior lawyers to their pro bono legal team. The firm has demonstrated the best of this pro bono tradition in its commitment to combat antisemitism.
The October 7th attack on Israel unleashed a wave of antisemitism in higher education, including at the University of California, Los Angeles, where administrators allowed protesters to set up a “Jew Exclusion Zone” that barred Jewish students and faculty from key parts of campus. Becket’s lawsuit against UCLA led to federal district court Judge Mark C. Scarsi calling the exclusion of Jews on UCLA’s campus “unimaginable” and “abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.” Winning important cases like this one requires a major investment in the “discovery” process to uncover critical facts and expose wrongdoing. Davis Polk has committed to partner with Becket and co-counsel Clement & Murphy and help protect Jewish students and faculty.
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