 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
St. Peter Claver
The plight of these “slaves” was so frightening and their conditions so inhumane, that he pledged to be the “slave of the Negroes” forever. The rest of his life was spent on behalf of these slaves, and he endured humiliation and resistance from local officials and members of the Spanish Colonial Society. He would often row out to the crowded, disease ridden slave ships to assist the afflicted slaves. He constantly defended their rights as human beings and “Beloved of God.” It is estimated that he baptized as many as 200,000 slaves. |
St. Peter Claver, Apostle to the Slaves, was born in Spain , the son of a farmer, and joined the Jesuits in 1602. In 1610, he was sent to what is now know as modern Columbia to minister to the vast number of West African slaves being brought to work in Spanish colonies. 