John Southworth (martyr)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Saint John Southworth | |
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| Martyr | |
| Born | 1592, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 28 June 1654, Tyburn, London, England |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 1929, Rome by Pope Pius XI |
| Canonized | 25 October 1970, Rome by Pope Paul VI |
| Feast | 25 October |
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John Southworth (also called Saint John Southworth, 1592, Lancashire, England - June 28, 1654, Tyburn, London) was an English Catholic martyr.
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[edit] History
Father John Southworth came from a Lancashire family that chose to pay heavy fines rather than give up the Catholic faith.
He studied at the English College in Douai, now in northern France, (and then moved to Hertfordshire, St Edmunds College) and was ordained priest before he returned to England. Imprisoned and sentenced to death for professing the Catholic faith, he was later deported to France. Once more he returned to England and lived in Clerkenwell, London, during a plague epidemic. He assisted and converted the sick in Westminster and was arrested again.
He was again arrested under the Interregnum and was tried at the Old Bailey under Elizabethan anti-priest legislation . He pleaded guilty to exercising the priesthood and was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. At his execution at Tyburn, he was not “drawn and quartered” as sentenced.
The Spanish ambassador returned his corpse to Douai for burial. Following the French Revolution, his body was buried in an unmarked grave. The grave was discovered in 1927 and his remains were returned to England. They are now kept at Westminster Cathedral in London.
[edit] Catholic Ceremony
He was beatified in 1929.
In 1970, he was canonized by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
[edit] References
St. John Southworth Catholic Encyclopedia
St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 4536 St. Paul Blvd. Rochester, New York 14617]
[edit] See also
John Southworth Roman Catholic Primary School , Lomeshaye Road, Nelson, Lancashire, BB9 0DQ
