The Decade You Were Born…
Childhood
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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:
St. Ignatius Loyola
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Seek God in all things
Perfect Obedience
Do all A.M.D.G.
Zeal for Souls
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:
Sts. Peter Claver & Alphonsus
– “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.”
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?