Saint John Ogilvie


(St. John Ogilvie)

1579 - 1615

Scotland's only post-Reformation saint. Born into a Protestant family in Keith (Moray), Ogilvie was educated in Europe and converted to Roman Catholicism in 1596. He continued his education in Regensburg (Germany) and Brno (Czech Republic) before being ordained as a Priest in Paris (1610). He returned to Scotland in 1613 disguised as a soldier and secretly offered mass to Scottish Catholics during a time the faith had been proscribed. He was captured by the authorities, tried and convicted of high treason in Edinburgh and hanged at Glasgow Cross. Ogilvie was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1976 following the miraculous recovery of a cancer-sufferer from Easterhouse, where there is a Roman Catholic church named in Ogilvie's honour. There are also St. John Ogilvie Churches in Irvine (North Ayrshire), High Blantyre (South Lanarkshire) and Edinburgh, and schools dedicated to him in Livingston and Hamilton.


Use the tabs on the right of this page to see other parts of this entry arrow

If you have found this information useful please consider making
a donation to help maintain and improve this resource. More info...

By using our site you agree to accept cookies, which help us serve you better