Born
in London, William Carter entered the printing business at an early
age. For many years he served as apprentice to well-known Catholic
printers, one of whom served a prison sentence for persisting in the
Catholic faith. William himself served time in prison following his
arrest for "printing lewd [i.e., Catholic] pamphlets" as well as
possessing books upholding Catholicism.
But even more, he offended
public officials by publishing works that aimed to keep Catholics firm
in their faith. Officials who searched his house found various
vestments and suspect books, and even managed to extract information
from William's distraught wife. Over the next 18 months William
remained in prison, suffering torture and learning of his wife's death.
He was eventually charged with printing and publishing the Treatise of Schisme,
which allegedly incited violence by Catholics and which was said to
have been written by a traitor and addressed to traitors. While William
calmly placed his trust in God, the jury met for only 15 minutes before
reaching a verdict of "guilty." William, who made his final confession
to a priest who was being tried alongside him, was hanged, drawn and
quartered the following day: January 11, 1584.
He was beatified in 1987.
Comment:
It
didn’t pay to be Catholic in Elizabeth I’s realm. In an age when
religious diversity did not yet seem possible, it was high treason, and
practicing the faith was dangerous. William gave his life for his
efforts to encourage his brothers and sisters to keep up the struggle.
These days, our brothers and sisters also need encouragement—not
because their lives are at risk, but because many other factors besiege
their faith. They look to us.
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