Passionist Fr Ignatius Spencer a step closer to sainthood

Ven Ignatius Spencer

An ancestor of both Sir Winston Spencer Churchill and Lady Diana Spencer has come a step closer to being a declared a saint.

On Saturday, Pope Francis authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree advancing the cause for the canonisation of eight people, including the Servant of God Fr Ignatius Spencer. The decree states that he lived a life of 'heroic virtue'. From now on Fr Ignatius will be referred to as the 'the Venerable Fr Ignatius Spencer.' In order for him to be declared Blessed (the next stage in the process) a physical miracle is now required.

Fr Ignatius Spencer (1799-1864) was born into one of the wealthiest and aristocratic families in England. Educated at Eton and Trinity Cambridge, he was ordained an Anglican priest, with the strong probability that eventually he would be made a Bishop in the Church of England. However, close examination of the early history of the Church led him to decide to enter the Roman Catholic Church in 1830, with the loss of an annual income of £3,000. (£340,000 in today's money).

His journey of faith was very similar to that of his contemporary St John Henry Newman. After a course of studies in Rome he was ordained in 1832, and returned to work in England, initially in the Black Country. Any spare time he had after his parish work, was spent working for Christian unity, in particular begging for prayers to fulfil the prayer of Jesus: "That they may be one."

In 1847 he entered the Passionist Religious Order, and for a time lived with Blessed Dominic Barberi (1792 - 1849). For the next 17 years Ignatius spent his life giving missions in England and Ireland, and spent several months at a time traversing Europe begging for prayers for Christian unity. Central to his preaching was the need for each individual to be personally converted before they could look to converting others.

Fr Ignatius died at Carstairs Junction, Lanarkshire, on 1st. October 1864. He is now buried in Sutton, St Helens beside his co-workers Blessed Dominic Barberi and Venerable Elizabeth Prout (1820 - 1864).

LINKS

The Passionists UK - https://passionists.org.uk/

The Passionists - https://thepassionists.org/