Saint Who? St. Turibius was one of the first saints of
the Western Hemisphere. He was archbishop
of Lima, Peru from 1580-1606, home to St. Rose of Lima and St. Martin de
Porres. But before he was assigned to
Lima, he first was ordained bishop after just being ordained priest. Correct, he was drafted to be the archbishop
of Lima when he was still a layman! But
the reason he was drafted was because of his ability as a lawyer and judge in
Spain. The Church needed someone beyond
reproach to clean up the ecclesiastical and colonial mess of the conquistadors.
When he arrived in Peru he walked to
Lima, 600 miles away, teaching and baptizing as he went. He traversed his diocese three times,
baptizing and confirming nearly 500,000 natives. He also challenged the governors and promoted
the rights of the native peoples against their Spanish overlords. He built roads, schoolhouses, hospitals, chapels,
convents, and the first seminary in the Western Hemisphere in Lima.
St. Turibius was a pioneer in
protecting native rights and ministering to their needs. Not all of Spain was bent on the gold and
glory of conquest. He was concerned with
God and how to bring God to these people.
It was not a matter of imposing a foreign god upon a defeated people; it
was a matter of sharing the message of the love of the true God to those who
had never heard of him. He was their
protector against the corruption and greed of the conquistadors. Who do we protect? To whom do we minister? With whom do we share the message of God? St. Turibius de Mongrovejo is not Saint Who?
but rather, Saint Wow!
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