This publisher died for his faith

​Wow. Wanna good thought or two while mourning for the Charlie Hebdo victims? (R.I.P. them) It’s here in Dolores Madlener’s Church Clips column in the Catholic New World.​

​Cartoons and Catholicism —

• Coming shortly after the Jan. 7 terrorist attack on an audacious publishing house in Paris was the feast day of Blessed William Carter. The two historical episodes have little in common. Yet there is some irony in the proximity of dates since William Carter was also a slain publisher. According to Franciscan Media’s “Saint of the Day,” online, this Catholic layman was born in London in 1548. William entered the printing business at a young age, serving for 10 years as an apprentice to well-known Catholic printers. After setting up his own business, William had to spend time in prison for “printing lewd [i.e.,
  Catholic] pamphlets” and for possessing Catholic books. Two years later he was again arrested for printing books that aimed to keep Catholics firm in their faith — an even bigger crime according to Elizabeth I. William was sent to prison for 18 months, suffering torture on the rack.Saint of the Day concludes: “He was eventually charged with printing and publishing ‘A Treatise of Schism,’ 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: Jan. 11, 1584.”

​A publisher martyr, he.​

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