Juan de Castillo (14 September 1595 – 17 November 1628) was a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest and missionary, and a martyr-saint of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. A Spaniard, he was one of the first to labor at the

Jesuit reduction Reductions ( es, reducciones, also called ; , pl. ) were settlements created by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such red ...

s in Paraguay.

Biography

Born on 14 September 1596 in Belmonte, in the region of Toledo in Spain, Juan del Castillo began studies for the legal profession at the

University of Alcalá The University of Alcalá ( es, Universidad de Alcalá) is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, a city 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Madrid in Spain and also the third-largest city of the region. It was founded in 1293 as a ...

, but discovered, at the beginning of his career, a very different goal. He entered the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

on 21 March 1614 in the novitiate in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, in preparation for becoming a Jesuit priest. In November 1616 he was sent with

Alphonsus Rodriguez Alphonsus Rodríguez, SJ ( es, Alfonso) (25 July 1532 – 31 October 1617) was a Spanish Jesuit who served as a religious brother and is now venerated as a saint. He was a native of Segovia. Though his life was punctuated with personal tra ...

to South America.TYLENDA JN, '' op cit ''., . They arrived in Buenos Aires on February 15, 1617 and he went to Cordoba to continue his studies. He was ordained a priest in 1625.

Mission to Paraguay

Background

The Jesuits arrived at Asuncion in 1588 and created the

s of Paraguay among the native Guaranis in 1609. At that time the Jesuit province of Paraguay did not correspond to the current borders. It included the current Paraguay,

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, a small part of

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, and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Their purpose was to protect the natives from the Portuguese settlers, which quickly brought on hostility from these settlers.

Mission

Juan del Castillo began his missionary work immediately after being ordained a priest. He joined at

Ijuí Ijuí () is a Brazilian municipality of Rio Grande do Sul, situated from the state capital, Porto Alegre. In 2020 its population was 83,764, making it the third most populous city of the Missões region, behind Passo Fundo and Erechim. Demogra ...

Roque González y de Santa Cruz :''Not to be mistaken for footballer Roque Santa Cruz.'' Roque González de Santa Cruz (17 November 1576 – 15 November 1628) was a Jesuit priest who was the first missionary among the Guarani people in Paraguay. He is honored as a martyr and s ...

who left him at the head of this reduction and went to found a new one. At Ijuí, presently in the western Brazilian municipality of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

, Juan helped Christianize the Guaranis, and taught the youngest to read and write.

Death

Juan del Castillo was assassinated on 17 November 1628 in Yjuhi, two days after his companions Roque Gonzalez and Alphonsus Rodriguez. The chieftain

Nheçu Nheçu () or Chief Nheçu was Guaraní Indian leader who lived during the 17th century in the region of today's municipality of Roque Gonzales, in the Western part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of Brazil. Historical records l ...

, head of the surrounding region, was hostile to their Christianizing efforts. He ordered his men to murder the three religious, and he condemned all missionaries in general. Juan was murdered in the forest, but brought back and buried with his companions in the reduction of the Immaculate Conception.

Public recognition

Juan del Castillo along with Roque Gonzalez de Santa Cruz and Alfonso Rodriguez were 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 from ...

in 1934. They were then together canonized on 16 May 1988 by

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. The following is an excerpt from the homily of John Paul II during the canonization Mass in Asuncion (Paraguay):

References

Bibliography

* TYLENDA J. N., ''Jesuit Saints & Martyrs. Short Biographies of the Saints, Blessed, Venerables, and Servants of God of the Society of Jesus'', 2nd éd., Chicago, Loyola Press, 1998. * FATAS CABEZA G. (dir.), ''Gran enciclopedia de Espana'', v. 5, Camino – Cataluna, Encyclopedia de Espana, S.A., 1992. * STORNi H. S.I., ''Catalogo de los jesuitas de la provincia del Paraguay (Cuenca del plata) 1585 – 1768'', Rome, Institutum Historicum S. I., 1980. * TENENBAUM B. A. (dir.), ''Encyclopedia of Latin american History and Culture'', v. 4 (Mestizo to Rutineros), Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996. * GERHARDS A., ''Dictionnaire historique des ordres religieux'', Fayard, 1998. * BANGERT William V. S.J., ''A History of the Society of Jesus, St Louis, the Institute of jesuit sources'', 1972. {{Authority control Jesuit saints 1595 births 1628 deaths Spanish Roman Catholic saints 17th-century Spanish Jesuits Brazilian Roman Catholic saints Jesuit missionaries Burials in Brazil Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay Jesuit missionaries in Brazil Martyred Roman Catholic priests