Four hundred years ago today, Jesuit priest Fr John Ogilvie was hanged at Glasgow Cross for refusing to recognise the spiritual jurisdiction of King James VI of Scotland and James I of England. Fr Ogilvie is Scotland's only Catholic reformation martyr. You can read more about the life of St John Ogilvie on the St Aloysius website.
To mark the anniversary there are celebrations across Scotland, particularly in Glasgow. For more information please visit the Archdiocese of Glasgow website.
Jubilee Year Indulgence
The Vatican has conferred on three Glasgow Parishes the privilege of celebrating 2015 as a Jubilee Year in honour of the anniversary. The privileged Parishes are St Andrew's Cathedral, as the area of St John's martyrdom, St Aloysius' Garnethill, as the location of the national shrine to the saint, and St Jude & St John Ogilvie's Barlanark, the Parish in which the miracle took place that led to the canonisation. Anyone who attends a liturgy in honour of St John Ogilvie in one of these churches, or anyone who privately prays the Our Father, Hail Mary, Apostles' Creed and a prayer in honour of the saint, may obtain a Plenary Indulgence for themselves or for the dead, under the usual conditions of Confession, Communion, and Prayer for the Pope's Intentions, with a heart free from all affection for sin. This indulgence can be gained throughout the rest of 2015.
