Blessed Martyrs of England and Wales
Feast Day: May 4
This feast honors 285 Catholics martyred in England and Wales over 145-year period.
They were men and women, priests and laity, rich and poor. Most were charged with treason for denying the monarch was head of the church, for reconciling with the Catholic Church, for being a Catholic priest entering or remaining in the realm, and for harboring or assisting such priests. Pope John Paul II beatified 85 of them in 1987; earlier popes had beatified the rest.
Another Forty Martyrs of England and Wales were canonized in 1970; their feast is Oct. 25.
