A native of Spain, the young
Jesuit priest Peter Claver left his homeland forever in 1610 to be a missionary
in the colonies of the New World. He sailed into what is now Colombia, and he
was ordained there in 1615.
By this time the slave
trade had been established in the Americas for nearly 100 years, and Cartagena
was a chief center for it. Ten thousand slaves poured into the port each year
after crossing the Atlantic from West Africa under conditions so foul and
inhuman that an estimated one-third of the passengers died in transit. Although
the practice of slave-trading was condemned by Pope Paul III and later labeled
"supreme villainy" by Pius IX, it continued to flourish.
Fr. Peter Claver's
predecessor, Jesuit Father Alfonso de Sandoval, had devoted himself to the service
of the slaves for 40 years before Fr. Claver arrived to continue his work,
declaring himself "the slave of the Negroes forever."
As soon as a slave ship
entered the port, Peter Claver moved into its infested hold to minister to the
ill-treated and exhausted passengers. After the slaves were herded out of the
ship like chained animals and shut up in nearby yards to be gazed at by the
crowds, the young priest plunged in among them with medicines, food, bread,
brandy, lemons and tobacco. With the help of interpreters he gave basic
instructions and assured his brothers and sisters of their human dignity and
God's saving love. During the 40 years of his ministry, he instructed and
baptized an estimated 300,000 slaves.
His apostolate extended
beyond his care for slaves. He preached in the city square, gave missions to
sailors and traders as well as country missions, during which he avoided, when
possible, the hospitality of the planters and owners and lodged in the slave
quarters instead.
After four years of sickness
which forced the saint to remain inactive and largely neglected, he died on
September 8, 1654. The city magistrates, who had previously frowned at his kindness
toward the slaves, ordered that he should be buried at public expense and with
great pomp.
He was canonized in
1888, and Pope Leo XIII declared him the worldwide patron of missionary work
among those who are in slavery or any kind of forced servitude.
O God, who to call many Africans in slavery to the knowledge of thy Name didst endue St. Peter Claver with wondrous love and patience in their service: grant by his intercession; that we may seek the things of Christ, and show forth charity toward our neighbors both in deed and in truth; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
