Educated in France, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1652 and took orders in 1671, when he returned to England. In 1679 he succeeded to the family baronetcy and estates and was appointed vice provincial of the English Jesuits but was imprisoned for suspected complicity in the Popish Plot (an alleged conspiracy to massacre Protestants, murder the King, and burn London). Released in 1680 by the influence of James (then duke of York), he was later blamed for the King's more extreme policies. James made Petre clerk to the closet (1686) and a member of the Privy Council (1687), but the King was unsuccessful in his attempt to persuade the Pope to make Petre a cardinal. Late in 1688 Petre fled abroad.