Sugar, John, Bl.

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SUGAR, JOHN, BL.

Priest, martyr; alias Cox; b. c. 1558 at Wombourne, Staffordshire, England; hanged, drawn, and quartered July 16, 1604 at Warwick under James I. Sugar, described as clerici filius (son of a clergyman), studied at Merton College, Oxford; however, he did not receive his degree because he objected to swearing the Oath of Supremacy. Nevertheless, he became a Protestant minister at Cannock (Cank), Staffordshire. After converting to Catholicism, he studied at Douai, was ordained there in 1601, and immediately returned to England. He worked in Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Worcestershire. On July 8, 1603, he was arrested with Bl. Robert grissold at Rowington, Warwickshire. After a year's imprisonment at Warwick, Sugar was condemned on July 14 for his priesthood. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Nov. 22, 1987 with George Haydock and companions.

Feast of the English Martyrs: May 4 (England).

See Also: england, scotland, and wales, martyrs of.

Bibliography: r. challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. j. h. pollen (rev. ed. London 1924), 2, nos. 135, 136. j. foster, Alumni Oxonienses (Oxford 1892). j. h. pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (London 1891), 321.

[k. i. rabenstein]