Alfonso Rodríguez Olmedo (10 March 1598 – 15 November 1628) was a Spanish

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priest who was sent as a missionary among the Guarani people in Paraguay. He is honored as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Church.

Life

Rodríguez was born in the city of Zamora, Spain on March 10, 1598. He did his novitiate in

Villagarcía de Campos Villagarcía de Campos is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear resea ...

, Valladolid and was later sent to Paraguay. He left

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal on an expedition led by Father Juan de Viana. In 1626, he was sent to the

Guaycuru Guaycuru or Guaykuru is a generic term for several ethnic groups indigenous to the Gran Chaco region of South America, speaking related Guaicuruan languages. In the 16th century, the time of first contact with Spanish explorers and colonists, t ...

missions, which were in front of Asunción, on the other side of the Paraguay River. He was the first missionary to learn the local language, and his mission was to preach and to facilitate the spread of the faith and ensure decent living conditions for indigenous people. In 1628, he went to the Guaraní missions of Paraná and then to Itaipú. He was appointed to accompany Roque González y de Santa Cruz in the founding of the town of Todos los Santos de Caaró, on the eastern bank of the Uruguay River. But Ñezú, a sorcerer and chieftain of Igní, opposed the project and gave the order to kill the missionaries. On November 15, 1628, while they were gathered in the plaza to witness the installation of a bell, the indigenous people appeared suddenly and in the midst of the confusion, they hit González on the head. Upon hearing the noise, Rodríguez left the church and was also beaten to death by a stone mallet called an '' itaizá''. Their bodies were dragged to the church and burned with paintings and images.

Juan de Castillo ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

suffered the same fate a few days later, being assassinated on November 17, 1628. Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, who was a fellow classmate of the three martyrs, wrote their biographies in 1644.

Veneration

Rodríguez was beatified by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

on 28 January 1934. He and his companions, Juan de Castillo and Roque González y de Santa Cruz, were later canonized by Pope John Paul II in Asunción, Paraguay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez Olmedo, Alfonso Jesuit saints 16th-century Spanish Jesuits Jesuit martyrs Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries Brazilian Roman Catholic saints Spanish Roman Catholic saints Paraguayan Roman Catholic saints 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Beatifications by Pope Pius XI 16th-century Christian saints 17th-century Christian saints Canonizations by Pope John Paul II 1598 births 1628 deaths Christians in Paraguay