Picture: The Catholic Church of St. Mary Immaculate, Warwick · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

John Sugar

Beatified English priest

BlessedFull write-up

Born

1558

verified

Died

16 July 1604

verified

Beatified

—

not on record

Canonised

—

not yet

Who they were

John Sugar, born in Staffordshire in 1558, left Oxford, it is said, because he disliked the Oath of Supremacy, and was for a time a Protestant minister. He was ordained at Douai in 1601 and sent on the mission.

Arrested in 1603 with Robert Grissold, a layman who served him, he was condemned after a year in prison for being a priest and executed at Warwick on 16 July 1604.

The miracles

As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.

Why that counted as sanctity

A former minister who became a priest and died for the Faith.

The cause

The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.

A miracle approved by the Holy See is needed for the next step. If you know the postulation’s own page, tell us and it will be added here.

Connected on this site

Robert Grissold Blessed
“Arrested in 1603 with Robert Grissold, a layman who served him, he was condemned after a year in prison for being a priest and executed at Warwick on 16 July 1604.” — this site's research

Sources

Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - John Sugar
Wikidata Q16863780 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
English Wikipedia — John Sugar (CC BY-SA)

Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.