Quick Facts
- Walter Ogilvie was a Scottish noble who raised his son John in the state religion of Scotland, Calvinism.
- John converted to Catholicism at age 17 at Louvain, Belgium.
- Attended several Catholic educational institutions.
- Joined the Jesuits soon after in 1597, and ordained in Paris in 1610.
- Sent to work in Rouen, France.
- He repeatedly requested assignment to Scotland.
- "Send only those,"wrote the Earl of Angus to the Jesuit General, "who wish for this mission and are strong enough to bear the heat of the day, for they will be in exceeding danger."
- Wholesale massacres of Catholics had taken place in Scotland, but by this point the hunters concentrated on priests those who attended Mass.
- The Jesuits were determined to minister to the oppressed Catholic laity.
- When captured, they were tortured for information, then hanged, drawn, and quartered.
- Ogilvie's request was granted, and he returned to Scotland in November 1613.
- He worked as an underground missionary in Edinburgh and Glasgow, dodging the Queen's priest-hunters, disguised as a soldier named Watson.
- After 11 months in the field, John was betrayed by a phony Catholic, imprisoned, interrogated, then tortured for the names of active Catholics.
- He suffered, but gave them no information.""Your threats cheer me; I mind them no more than the cackling of geese.
- Asked if he feared to die he said, "No more than you do to dine."After three trials, he was convicted of treason for being loyal to the Pope, and denying the king's supremacy in spiritual matters.He is the Church's only officially recorded Scottish martyr
