Peter Claver

Saint Peter Claver S.J.
Apostle of the Blacks
Religious, priest and confessor, Patron of the missions to African peoples and human rights defender.
Born	(1580-06-26)26 June 1580 Verdú, Urgell, Lleida, Catalonia, Kingdom of Spain
Died	8 September 1654(1654-09-08) (aged 74) Cartagena, New Kingdom of Granada, Spanish Empire
Venerated in	Catholic Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Beatified	20 July 1850, Rome, Papal States by Pope Pius IX
Canonized	15 January 1888, Rome, Italy by Pope Leo XIII
Major shrine	Church of Saint Peter Claver Cartagena, Colombia
Feast	9 September
Patronage	Slaves, Colombia, race relations, ministry to African-Americans, seafarers

Saint Peter Claver, S.J., (Spanish: Pedro Claver y Corberó, Catalan: Pere Claver i Corberó) (26 June 1580 – 8 September 1654) was a Spanish Jesuit priest and missionary born in Verdú (Catalonia) who, due to his life and work, became the patron saint of slaves, the Republic of Colombia and ministry to African Americans. During the 40 years of his ministry in Colombia it is estimated he personally baptized around 300,000 people. He is also patron saint for seafarers. He is considered a heroic example of what should be the Christian praxis of love and of the exercise of human rights.

Claver was born in 1580 into a devoutly Catholic and prosperous farming family in the Catalan village of Verdú,Urgell, located in the Province of Lleida, about 54 miles (87 km) from Barcelona. He was born 70 years after King Ferdinand of Spain set the colonial slavery culture into motion by authorizing the purchase of 250 African slaves in Lisbon for his territories in New Spain, an event which was to shape Claver's life.

Later, as a student at the University of Barcelona, Claver was noted for his intelligence and piety. After two years of study there, Claver wrote these words in the notebook he kept throughout his life: "I must dedicate myself to the service of God until death, on the understanding that I am like a slave."