Saint Peter Claver, Priest

Peter Claver was born in 1580 in Catalonia, Spain, and entered the Society of Jesus. Sent to the Spanish colonial port of Cartagena in present-day Colombia, he encountered the brutal Atlantic slave trade. Ships arrived carrying enslaved Africans in horrific conditions, and Claver dedicated his life to serving them physically and spiritually.

For roughly four decades, Peter Claver met slave ships with food, medicine, interpreters, catechesis, and human dignity, calling himself “the slave of the slaves forever.” He died in 1654 and was canonized in 1888. His feast is a summons to repentance for the history of slavery and racism and to concrete solidarity with the oppressed.

Prayer: Saint Peter Claver, pray for racial justice, human dignity, and the courage to serve Christ in the oppressed. Amen.