Bl. Edward Oldcorne

Edward Oldcorne was born in 1561 to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother. He trained as a doctor but then studied for the priesthood at the English College at Reims and in Rome. He was ordained in 1587 and joined the Jesuits.

In 1588 he returned to England with Father John Gerard and worked secretly as a priest, mainly around Worcester.

After the Gunpowder Plot he was arrested with Father Henry Garnet and taken to the Tower. No evidence connected him with the plot, but he was executed for being a priest at Red Hill, Worcester, on April 7, 1606. His servant Ralph Ashby died with him.

Edward Oldcorne was beatified in 1929.

Beatification allows public veneration, usually in a particular region or religious family. Canonization extends it to the whole Church.