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# Relics of Saint John Southworth, executed in 1654, in Westminster Cathedral
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/relikvarii-s-telom-odnogo-iz-40-muchenikov-anglii-i-irlandii-sviatogo-dzhona-sautvorta-nakhoditsia-v-glavnom-katolicheskom-khrame-anglii-vestminsterskom-kafedralnom-sobore/
- Published: 2021-06-19T13:32:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T19:09:30.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Faith, London, Heritage, People

The reliquary with the body of Saint John Southworth, one of the 40 martyrs of England and Ireland, is kept in the principal Catholic church of England, Westminster Cathedral. The priest John Southworth was executed in 1654 essentially for no more than being a Catholic and carrying on with his priestly work, for instance nursing plague victims with incredible selflessness during the epidemic of 1636\. In deference to his dignity, he was executed in his priestly vestments and, before the quartering, was after all hanged, which spared him the most terrible torments. The quartered body was preserved and sewn back together; he was beatified in 1929 and canonised in 1970\. Southworth's relics rest in the very place where he served. Once a year, on the last Sunday of June, the reliquary with the saint's body is carried out of the Chapel of Saint George. The shrine is entirely transparent, but the relics themselves are hidden beneath silver plates, which at least looks slightly more proper towards the bodily remains of the deceased than putting decayed flesh on display for all to see

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_4461@19-06-2021_16-32-58.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_4462@19-06-2021_16-32-58.jpg)