The Decade You Were Born…

Childhood• Son of a wealthy farmer• Pious family: Rosary and Eucharist• 1593: Mother died , older brother• Peter begins path to priesthood– Family always supported vocation

• 1596: Begins studies in Barcelona

Novitiate• 1601: Begins college studies– A gifted student at every stage

• 1602: Accepted as Jesuit Novice– Four Precepts:

• Seek God in all things• Perfect Obedience• Do all A.M.D.G.• Zeal for SoulsSt. Ignatius Loyola

Brother Alonso: “My Saintly Master”• 1604: First vows “I am like a slave”• On to Girona- Latin, Greek, and

Rhetoric• Nov. 1605: Philosophy at Majorca– Meets 80 yr. old St. Alphonsus Rodriguez– Learns holiness from him 15 minutes/day– St. Alphonsus prophesies Claver will go to

the Indies St. Alphonsus Rodriguez

Prayer, Study, and Waiting• 1608: Back to Barcelona for Theology

– Requested assignment in Kingdom of Tierra Firme

– Waited two years• A fellow student described him:

– “Modest, gentle and friendly…trying to please and help everyone. I never heard him complain. Always he spoke of God…He was very humble and no less exact in obedience…he was very silent and reserved.”Sts. Peter Claver & Alphonsus

On to Cartagena!• 1610: Finally permitted to go– Spanish Jesuits ordered to send

missionaries– Spanish crown underwrote

missionaries• Peter Claver is listed as travelling

on the San Pedro galleon– Misspelled name: Clavel Spanish Galleon

Like Abraham• Arrives in Cartagena• Immediately sent to Santa Fe de

Bogota– Supposed to finish Theology– No professor for 18 months– Finally finishes in 1613

• Ill health forces him to Tunja• 1615 Finally in Cartagena

Cathedral of Tunja

Not Without Precedent• Cartagena: – 300+ households– 2,000+ Spaniards– 3,000-4,000 Africans– 200 Soldiers– 4 priests

• Fr. Alonso Sandoval was Claver’s mentor

Radical, Methodical Service

Image and Likeness

The Good Shepherd

Body and Soul

Magisterium and New World Slavery• Eugene IV: Sicut Dudum Jan 13, 1435– Condemned enslavement of Canary Islands natives– Repeated by Pius II (1458-64) and Sixtus IV (1471-84)

• Alexander VI: 3 letters from 1493 to 1497– “Divided the world” for evangelization, not rule– Spain and Portugal given right to evangelize, but govern

only if natives “have wished to be subject” to their rule

Magisterium and New World Slavery• Paul III: Three documents in 1537– Sublimis Deus-Bull condemning slavery– Pastorale Officium-Penalties for violating Sublimis Deus– Altitudo Divini Consilii-On sacramental prep in the Indies

• Gregory XIV: Cum Sicuti, 1591– Condemned slavery in Philippines– Ordered restitution paid by Spanish

Magisterium and New World Slavery• Urban VIII: Commissum Nobis,1639– Explicitly refers to and renews teaching of Paul III

• Bl. Innocent XI: Response of the Congregation of the Holy Office, 1686– Forbids capture, purchase, or sale of “Blacks or other

Natives”– Obliges release and restitution of slaves

Magisterium and New World Slavery• Benedict XIV: Immensa Pastorum, 1741– Condemns slavery in Brazil

• Gregory XVI: In Supremo, 1839– Condemns Slavery and Slave Trade– Most American bishops dodge

• Pius IX: Instruction of the Holy Office, 1866– Instructions to converts of Galla and Sidama tribes in Ethiopia– How to live as Christians in the midst of a radical “culture of slavery”

Magisterium and New World Slavery• Leo XIII: Two Encyclicals– In Plurimis: May 5,1888

• Urges bishops of Brazil to make sure legal end of slavery was peacefully put into actual practice

• Appeals for an end to slavery throughout world

– Catholicae Ecclesiae: November 20, 1890• Asks bishops of world to work for end of African

slavery, promote evangelization, financial support of the missions

We Need New Peter Clavers• Legal slavery is practically eliminated in the world• Slavery as a practice is once again on the increase– Now called “Human Trafficking”

• Labor, especially in agriculture• Prostitution

• Legal protections and aid exist in some countries, but who is reaching the victims spiritually?