Juan de Padilla, OFM (1500–1542) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Catholic 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 ...

priest and missionary who spent much of his life exploring

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

with

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

. He was killed in what would become

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

by Native Americans in 1542.

Biography

Padilla and three other

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

, together with more than 300 Spanish soldiers and workers, accompanied Coronado on his quest for the

Seven Cities of Gold The myth of the Seven Cities of Gold, also known as the Seven Cities of Cibola (), was popular in the 16th century and later featured in several works of popular culture. According to legend, the seven cities of gold referred to Aztec mythology r ...

, a mythical land of great wealth. When Coronado abandoned his search, Padilla and others followed him to explore what is now the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

; Padilla was one of the first

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

s to see the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

. But, when Coronado was told by a native named the "Turk" that a great land called ''

Quivira Quivira is a place named by Spanish conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1541, for the mythical Seven Cities of Gold that he never found. Quivira was a province of the ancestral Wichita people, located near the Great Bend of the Arkans ...

'' was in modern-day

, Coronado's entire party immediately left in search of it. After reaching the location in 1541, the Spaniards camped alongside a Wichita village for 25 days. Finding no gold, they killed the Turk in fury. Coronado returned to the Southwest and Padilla followed. One year later, the missionary priest returned to Kansas to preach to the Wichita, and establish the first

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

in the present-day United States.

Death

He was killed in Kansas in 1542 by Native Americans, and is considered to be one of the first

Christian martyrs In Christianity, a martyr is a person considered to have died because of their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at th ...

in the U.S.

Legends

Juan de Padilla is associated with a miracle known as the "Rising of the coffin of Padre Padilla". The story of seeing his coffin rise above the ground was repeated for many years, and was believed by many people in

Isleta Pueblo of Isleta ( tix, Shiewhibak , kjq, Dîiw'a'ane ; nv, Naatoohó ) is an unincorporated community and Tanoan pueblo in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States, originally established in the . The Southern Tiwa name of the pueblo ...

, where the Padre is believed to be buried. Additionally, his corpse was claimed to have been fresh when rising the first time according to the legend (

incorruptibility Incorruptibility is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their ...

). Against this is that this clearly was no longer true later as the corpse is missing a foot, and the claims of his body being incorruptible have no witnesses.

Anton Docher Anton Docher (1852–1928), born Antonin Jean Baptiste Docher (pronounced ɑ̃tɔnɛ̃ ʒɑ̃ batist dɔʃe), was a French Franciscan Roman Catholic priest, who served as a missionary to Native Americans in New Mexico, in the Southwest of t ...

, once a priest in Isleta, investigated the miracle in the presence of several witnesses. He opened the grave of Padre Padilla. During this operation, Docher injured his arm and suffered from the then highly dangerous

gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...

. Doctors recommended amputation for his survival. The native inhabitants invoked the intercession of Padre Padilla. Docher made a prayer to Padre Padilla to cure and forgive him for what he did, and supposedly, the wound had disappeared.Alice Bullock. ''Living legends of the Santa Fe country'', 1985, pp.85-86cf

Memorial

Cow Creek Hst Wayside (Fray Juan de Padilla) P5310440

In 1950, the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

erected a commemorative cross dedicated to Padilla near

Lyons, Kansas Lyons is a city in and the county seat of Rice County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,611. History For millennia, the land now known as Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans. Although Cor ...

. The stone marker reads:

In popular culture

In the 1976 album ''

Leftoverture ''Leftoverture'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Kansas, released in 1976. The album was reissued in remastered format on CD in 2001. It was the band's first album to be certified by the RIAA, and remains their highest selling al ...

'' by the American rock group Kansas, the first movement of ''Magnum Opus'' is entitled "Father Padilla Meets the Perfect Gnat."

Notes

References

* * * * * Samuel Gance, ''Anton ou la trajectoire d'un père'', L'Harmattan, Paris, 2013, 208 p. {{DEFAULTSORT:Padilla, Juan De 1500 births 1542 deaths People from Andalusia Spanish explorers of North America Pre-statehood history of Kansas Martyred Roman Catholic priests Franciscan martyrs 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs