Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
missionary, one of the first
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
s in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
.
Life
Born in
Mondéjar
Mondéjar is a municipality located in the Guadalajara (province), province of Guadalajara, Spain. According to the 2008 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE), the municipality has a population of 2,637 inhabitants.
Refe ...
,
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
, Spain, he entered the Society of Jesus at Alcalá on 27 May 1565. He was rector of the college of
Navalcarnero
Navalcarnero is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located about from Madrid.
Sights include the church of Inmaculada Concepción.
History
By the end of 1499 the city of Segovia founded the location of Navalcarnero, to put an en ...
, taught grammar for five years, and in 1579 went to the mission of
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, where he was rector of the seminary.
Early in 1581 he set out for the Philippines with Bishop
Domingo de Salazar
Domingo de Salazar (1512 – December 4, 1594) was a Catholic Dominican prelate who served as the first Bishop of Manila (1579–1594), ''(in Latin)''Antonio Sedeno, and a lay brother, were the first Jesuits in these islands. The bishop made Sánchez his counsellor, appointed him to write the acts of the synod of Manila, and, when Sánchez was sent on an embassy to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, interrupted the synod until Sánchez had returned.
Twice Sánchez was despatched on official business to China, where he met celebrated Jesuit missionaries of that country and from Japan. He was thus able to publish later an account of the state of Christianity of China at the end of the sixteenth century. He was also a promoter of the .
By the unanimous vote of all the Spanish officials, civil and religious, of the merchants and other leading citizens, Sánchez was chosen to go to Madrid as representative of the colony in 1586. Sánchez's mission to
Philip II of Spain
Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...
was very successful, his arguments moving the king to retain the islands, which many of his advisors had been urging him to abandon. From Madrid he went to Rome, and was there welcomed by
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V (; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where h ...
, from whom he received many privileges for the Catholic church in the Philippines. In a brief of 28 June 1591,
Pope Gregory XIV
Pope Gregory XIV (; ; 11 February 1535 – 16 October 1591), born Niccolò Sfondrato or Sfondrati, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 December 1590 to his death, in October 1591.
Early career
Niccolò S ...
praises the apostolic labours and writings of Sánchez, calling him a true defender of the authority and rights of the Holy See.
Pope Innocent IX
Pope Innocent IX (; ; 20 July 1519 – 30 December 1591), born Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 October to 30 December 1591.
Prior to his short papacy, he had been a canon ...
addressed to him the bull , in which he lauds his work.
Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605.
Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...
at his request granted various favours to the bishop and clergy in the islands.
Sánchez gave an account of the Jesuit missions in the Philippines to Aquaviva, the general of the Society of Jesus. It had been proposed to withdraw the priests from the Archipelago, but Aquaviva, following the plan proposed by Sánchez, determined that the society should remain, and made the Manila residence a college with Sedeno as its first rector.
Sánchez now asked to be allowed to return to the Philippines, but was sent instead as visitor to some of the Spanish provinces of the Society of Jesus, where there were serious domestic and external troubles. The tact of Sánchez gained the day; he expelled some influential but turbulent members from the Society, and won over the king, the Inquisition, and prominent personages, so that they became better disposed towards the Society.
Sánchez was elected one of the representatives of the Province of Toledo to the Fifth General Congregation of the Society, but he remarked that he had a more important journey to make than the one to Rome. He died twelve days later, at
Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...
, on the
feast of the Ascension
The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ (also called the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday) commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It ...
.
Works
His writings include chiefly short treatises, memorials, and the like. A catalogue and summary of forty-one of these, drawn up by the author, is given by Colín.
References
;Attribution
* The entry cites:
**, , new ed. by (Barcelona, 1900);
**
Sommervogel
Carlos Sommervogel (8 January 1834 – 4 March 1902) was a French Jesuit scholar. He was author of the monumental ''Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus'', which served as one of the major references for the editors of the Catholic Encyclo ...