Owen Lewis (bishop)

Most Reverend Owen Lewis
Bishop of Cassano all'Jonio
Church	Catholic Church
In office	1588-1595
Predecessor	Tiberio Carafa
Successor	Giulio Caracciolo
Orders
Consecration	14 Feb 1588 by Nicolás de Pellevé
Personal details
Born	28 December 1532 Bodeon, Llangadwaladr, Anglesey
Died	14 October 1594 Rome

Owen Lewis, also known as Lewis Owen (Italian: Ludovico Audoeno, Latin: Audoenus Ludovisi) (28 December, 1532 – 14 October, 1594) was a Welsh Roman Catholic priest, jurist, administrator and diplomat, who became Bishop of Cassano all'Jonio.

Born on 28 December 1532 in the hamlet of Bodeon, Llangadwaladr, Anglesey, he was the son of a freeholder. He became a scholar of Winchester College in 1547, and a perpetual fellow of New College, Oxford, in 1554; and was admitted to the degree of B.C.L. 21 February 1558–9. Opposed to Protestantism, he left the university about 1561 and went to the University of Douai, where he completed degrees in both law and divinity, and was appointed regius professor of law. He was also made a canon of Cambrai Cathedral, official of the chapter, and archdeacon of Hainault.

A lawsuit of the chapter of Cambrai involved occasioned Lewis's going to Rome. Both Pope Sixtus V and Pope Gregory XIII made him referendary of both signatures, and secretary to the several congregations and consultations concerning the clergy and regulars.

With William Allen, Lewis helped set up the English College, Douai and English College, Rome. In 1578, Lewis had Morys Clynnog brought in as warden to the college in Rome. Nationalist feelings, however, came to the fore, and the English students agitated for a Jesuit to be put in charge. This incident has been identified as the beginning of the "Jesuit and secular" divide in the English mission.

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