Alexander Cameron (priest)
Alexander Cameron of Lochiel, S.J. (Scottish Gaelic: Maighstir Sandaidh, an t-Athair Alasdair Camshròn) (1701 – 19 October 1746) was a Scottish nobleman and outlawed Roman Catholic priest in the Society of Jesus. He is currently being promoted by the Knights of St Columba for Canonization as a Saint and a martyr by the Roman Catholic Church.
Fr. Alexander Cameron | |
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Genuflecting on the eve of the Battle of Prestonpans | |
Scottish Priest, Missionary, Military Chaplain | |
Born | 1701 Achnacarry Castle, Lochaber, Scotland |
Died | 19 October 1746 Gravesend, Kent, England |
Venerated in | Catholic Church |
Feast | 19th October |
Patronage | Difficult Conversions, Military Chaplains, New Evangelisation, Scottish Highlands |
Alexander Cameron was born into the Highland Scottish nobility (Scottish Gaelic: flath) at Achnacarry Castle (Scottish Gaelic: Achadh na Cairidh) in Lochaber and was the third son of John Cameron of Lochiel, the 18th Chief (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Iall, Mac Dhòmhnaill Dubh) of Clan Cameron (Scottish Gaelic: Clann Camshròn). After being fostered within the clan and raised by relatives in nearby Glen Dessary, Alexander travelled in both Catholic Europe and the British West Indies. While employed as "an honourary gentleman of the bedchamber" to Prince James Francis Edward Stuart and Princess Maria Clementina Sobieska at the House of Stuart government in exile in the Palazzo Muti in Rome, he converted from the High Church and Non-Juring Scottish Episcopal Church to Roman Catholicism.
Following his Jesuit formation, Cameron was first ordained as a Roman Catholic priest and then ordered by the Society of Jesus to return to his native district. While living in a summer shieling (Scottish Gaelic: Àirigh) with two fellow priests in Glen Cannich, Fr. Cameron ran a highly successful but very dangerous ministry throughout both Lochaber and Strathglass, often under extremely harsh weather conditions, as an outlawed "heather priest" for the strictly illegal and underground Catholic Church in Scotland. After the raising of Prince Charles Edward Stuart's standard at Glenfinnan (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Fhionnain), Fr. Cameron served as a military chaplain to the regiment of the Jacobite Army commanded by his elder brother, Donald Cameron of Lochiel, for the rest of the Uprising of 1745.
After the Battle of Culloden (Scottish Gaelic: Blàr Chùil Lodair), Fr. Cameron was captured by the British Army near Morar (Scottish Gaelic: Mòrar), Lochaber. He died of torture and the other hardships of his imprisonment while being held in inhumane conditions and without trial aboard a Royal Navy prison hulk anchored in the Thames River. As Fr. Alexander Cameron's death in odium fidei qualifies under Canon Law as Martyrdom, his Cause for Roman Catholic Sainthood is currently being advanced by the Knights of St Columba.