Friday, February 17, 2012

The Last Catholic Priest Executed under Elizabeth I

On February 17, 1603, Blessed William Richardson became the last Catholic priest executed during the reign of Elizabeth I:

BLESSED William RICHARDSON was born in Wales and grew up near Sheffield in the county of Yorkshire. He was admitted as pupil at the English College, VALLADOLID, and afterwards to the College of St. Gregory in Seville. He was ordained a priest in 1594 and was betrayed to English authorities soon after arriving in England in 1603. Arrested at Gray's Inn, he was quickly tried and condemned to death for being a priest. When he was stripped, hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn (London) on the 17th of February 1603, he offered a prayer for Elizabeth I.

Blessed William Richardson is thus among the "Six saints, sixteen men beatified and one acknowledged as Venerable" from the English College at Valladolid, Spain. The seminarians and students still honor La Vulnerata, wounded by English soldiers under the Earl of Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh. Pope Pius XI beatified this martyr on the 15th of December in 1929.

4 comments:

  1. This is off topic, but...do you know of a Catholic version of The Da Vinci Code? Something in that genre, but not anti-Catholic. Thanks.

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  2. Check out the book, "The Crown,"--I have not read it yet, but Elene Maria Vidal plans to post a review on her blog, "Tea at Trianon" and has posted an interview with the author.

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  3. Btw, did you find it fair to Catholicism?

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  4. Again, I have not read it, but Elena Maria Vidal has commented on it favorably--see her blog or my blog on her interview with the author.

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