Cartagenga
Peter Claver is not a familiar name. It has
the ring of the English language about it.
But Peter Claver was born in Catalonia on 26
June 1580; he died on the 8th September 1654 aged 74 in Cartagena
now Colombia, but back then it was part of the Spanish Empire.
He became a priest.
And a saint
for slaves, Colombia, race relations, African-Americans and seafarers, and I
think that tells his story in a few words.
Peter was a Spanish Jesuit priest who spent 40
years of his ministry in the ‘New Kingdom of Granada’ where he personally
baptized over a quarter of a million people and
heard confessions of thousands of slaves every year. He really demonstrated true Christian love
for his fellow man, and fittingly The Republic of Colombia declared September 9
as the National Day of Human Rights in his honour.
When Claver was born, King Ferdinand of Spain
had already started Spain’s role in international slave trading by purchasing
250 African slaves for the Spanish territory.
Claver arrived in Cartagena in 1610 where he
lived with the Jesuits at Tunja and Bogota and in these early years he became
very disturbed by the terrible treatment dealt out to the slaves from Africa.
Because the locals were considered unsuitable
for work in the mines, the importation of slaves to South America had been
going on for about a century, mostly from Angola and the Congo. It’s estimated
that over 10000 slaves, male and female arrived in Cartagena every year. It’s
estimated that one third died in the sea voyage across the Atlantic due to the conditions
on board the boat, and although Pope Paul III had issued a decree prohibiting slavery and
calling it an act of 'supreme villainy', it remained a very popular way of making money.
The statue to Peter Claver- The Priest and The Slave
Claver boarded the slave ships as soon as
they docked. He gave treatment to the sick, tried to comfort the terrified
prisoners in the cramped, foul conditions. The priest found it difficult to move around once down in the hold as the human cargo
had been packed in so tightly. There’s a legend, grown from the fact that he
would offer his cloak to any slave in need, that Claver's cloak gave health to
anybody who wore it. Once the slaves were on dry land and held secure in their pens, Claver
would walk amongst them with food and medicine. He carried pictures with him
sometimes accompanied by a translator and communicated with the slaves,
encouraging them, he always saw them as fellow Christians.
During the season when no boats were expected
in the port, Claver could be found travelling the country, visiting plantations
and offering some spiritual assistance to the slave workers. Where possible, he
rejected accommodation with the plantation owners preferring to sleep in the slaves’ quarters.
He looked after sailors and seafarers with
similar compassion as well as the posh folk of Cartagena, traders and visitors
including British Protestants and Muslims from the east. He also prepared condemned
criminals for death.
Over time, he became a moral force; the
Apostle of Cartagena.
Latterly, Claver was housebound in his single
room for four years. He was abused and ill-treated by an ex-slave, and he died
on 8th September 1654 having never uttered a word of complaint.
As is usual, it was only when he died that
the authorities took action. A public funeral was ordered, and he was buried
with much pomp and ceremony which I doubt he would have desired.
Caro Ramsay
Posts
I have always wondered how, in the midst of such terrible treatment at the hands of so many Christians, slaves could still be converted. I think that would be the last religion I would consider.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it we rarely hear of the good done in the midst of so much evil until the doer has passed on? In this case 365 years. Hopefully not because there's so little being done. :(
ReplyDelete