29 Facts About Ignatius Spencer

Ignatius Spencer converted from Anglicanism to the Roman Catholic Church and entered the Passionist religious order in 1847 and spent his life working for the conversion of England to the Catholic faith.

Ignatius Spencer was declared Venerable by Pope Francis on 20 February 2021.

Ignatius Spencer was the son of George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, at that time First Lord of the Admiralty.

At Eton, Ignatius Spencer fell under the influence of Richard Godley, a stalwart evangelical Anglican who introduced him to various practices of piety and asceticism.

Ignatius Spencer's education was then continued under the direction of Charles James Blomfield of Buckinghamshire who both provided a more classical education for the boy and prepared him for the rite of confirmation.

In October 1817, Ignatius Spencer went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied divinity.

Ignatius Spencer spent much of the long vacation of 1818 at Tywyn in Merionethshire with his friend Thomas Fremantle.

At Cambridge, Ignatius Spencer enjoyed the company of a circle of friends who often spent their days in conversation, taking tea and playing cards.

Lady Ignatius Spencer reproved her son for what she took to be wasted time.

However, Ignatius Spencer took a first class honours degree upon going down from Cambridge in 1819.

Ignatius Spencer studied the classical languages, as well as employing a Jewish scholar to teach him some Hebrew.

For two years Ignatius Spencer worked in a Sunday school, but as a magistrate in Northampton and on 13 June 1824 Ignatius Spencer was ordained a priest.

Ignatius Spencer was totally committed to the care of his parish and spent his days visiting his parishioners, the sick and the dying and was often seen dispensing food, clothes and moneys.

Ignatius Spencer explored each and every tradition, from High Church to Evangelical and even in his own parish he met many Methodists and other non-conformists.

From 1827, Ignatius Spencer began to make the acquaintance of several Catholic priests who encouraged Ignatius Spencer to continue with his reading.

Whilst in Rome Ignatius Spencer met Dominic Barberi, a Passionist priest with enthusiasm for the conversion of England to the Catholic faith.

In January 1840, Ignatius Spencer visited John Henry Newman at Oriel College, Oxford to ask Newman to join him in prayer for "unity in truth".

Ignatius Spencer's 'Crusade' did not only meet with Newman's opposition, but within the Catholic Church in England, where Dr Baines used a pastoral letter to reprimand the activities of 'certain converts'.

Ignatius Spencer was greatly pleased to receive the blessing of Pope Pius IX, who granted a number of indulgences for those who would pray for England.

Ignatius Spencer's Crusade was the first association with the unity of Christians as its aim and it is with this in mind that he is often hailed as the Apostle of Ecumenical Prayer.

Ignatius Spencer had often considered the possibility that he might have a vocation to enter the religious life and in 1846 he made a long retreat, finally deciding that it was God's will that he should enter the Passionist Congregation.

On 5 January 1847 George Ignatius Spencer received the Passionist habit from the hands of his old friend Dominic Barberi, who had brought the congregation to England in 1841 with the help of Ignatius Spencer.

Ignatius Spencer threw himself into Passionist life and after making his religious profession in 1848 began preaching sermons throughout Britain and Ireland, always calling for prayers for the conversion of England.

In 1851, Ignatius Spencer set out to Rome to gain the approval of the pope for his work; on his return he met with several prominent bishops, as well as with Emperor Franz Josef of Austria.

Ignatius Spencer was returning from giving a mission in Scotland at the end of September 1864.

Ignatius Spencer stopped at Carstairs to visit an old friend.

When his body was exhumed in 1973 it was noted that Ignatius Spencer suffered from horrific arthritis, but that his tongue had not suffered any decay since the day of his death.

The next step in this process would be a declaration from the Holy See that Ignatius Spencer could be styled 'Venerable'; on 6 December 2010, the BBC reported that the Vatican had concluded that he had lived a life of "heroic virtue", opening the way to such a declaration.

Ignatius Spencer was formally declared venerable by Pope Francis on 20 February 2021.