Silvester Jenks (c. 1656 – December 1714) was an English Catholic priest and theologian. Born in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, Jenks attended the

English College, Douai The English College (''College des Grands Anglais'') was a Catholic seminary in Douai, France (also previously spelled Douay, and in English Doway), associated with the University of Douai. It was established in 1568, and was suppressed in 179 ...

, where he served as Professor of Philosophy from 1680 to 1686. He later served as a preacher to James II. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, he fled to

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

. Upon his return to England, he laboured as a missionary in or near London and was appointed

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of m ...

of Surrey and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Burton, Edwin. "Silvester Jenks." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 1 March 2020 In 1711, he was elected

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pr ...

of the Northern District. Bishops

Giffard Giffard is an Anglo-Norman surname, carried by a number of families of the Peerage of the United Kingdom and the landed gentry. They included the Earl of Halsbury, Earls of Halsbury and the Giffards of Chillington Hall, Staffordshire. Notable peop ...

and

Witham Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Chelms ...

wrote Rome to say that Jenks had been ill, and that it would be better to defer his consecration until after parliament had been dissolved to avoid any disturbance. Jenks died before being consecrated, probably in mid-December 1714. Brady, William Maziere. ''Annals of the Catholic Hierarchy in England and Scotland'', J. M. Stark, 1883, p. 248
/ref> Among Jenks's works are: *''A Contrite and Humble Heart'' *''Practical Discourses on the Morality of the Gospel'' *''The Blind Obedience of a Humble Penitent the Best Cure for Scruples'' *''The Whole Duty of a Christian'' *''A Short Review of the Book of Jansenius'' A portrait engraved by le Pouter in 1694 is prefixed to a Paris edition of ''A Contrite and Humble Heart''.

References

1650s births 1714 deaths English College, Douai alumni 17th-century English Roman Catholic theologians Clergy from Shropshire 17th-century English Roman Catholic priests 18th-century English Roman Catholic priests {{UK-RC-clergy-stub