David Lewis
English Jesuit Catholic priest and martyr
Feast: 27 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
David Lewis, born in Monmouthshire in 1616 and raised a Protestant, was received into the Church in Paris at sixteen. He studied at the English College in Rome, was ordained in 1642 and entered the Jesuits in 1644.
From 1648 he worked for twenty-eight years in South Wales, making long and dangerous night journeys to reach his people, who called him Father of the Poor. Arrested in the frenzy after Titus Oates's false revelations, he could not be linked to the pretended plot, and was condemned instead for having been ordained abroad. He was executed at Usk on 27 August 1679.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle. His cause was introduced by decree on 4 December 1886.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Jesuit who served the poor of Wales for decades and died for his priesthood.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Ven. David Lewis
- Wikidata Q1175222 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — David Lewis (Jesuit priest) (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.