Francisco de Avila (1573–1647) was a

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priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and early student of native customs. Avila was born in Cuzco. He was

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

in the province of Huarochiri of

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, later curate at

Huánuco Huánuco (; ) is a city in central Peru. It had a population of 196,627 as of 2017 and in 2015 it had a population of 175,068. It is the capital of the Huánuco Region and the Huánuco District. It is the seat of the diocese of Huánuco. The met ...

, and finally

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of the Church of La Plata (now

Sucre Sucre (; ) is the ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...

), in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. He was one of the most active investigators of Indian rites and customs of his time. He died in Lima.

Works

In 1608 he wrote a treatise of the "''Errors, False Gods, and Other Superstitions of the Indians of the Provinces of Huarochiri, Mama, and Chaclla''", of which only the first six chapters are known to exist and have been translated into English. It is a contribution to the knowledge of the Peruvian Indians and their lore. In 1611 Avila wrote a report on the Indians of Huánuco in eastern Peru, of which the unpublished manuscript is extant. These works contain apologetics on the destruction of fetishes and other objects of worship, for example by

Pablo José Arriaga Pablo José Arriaga, SJ (Arriga; Bergara, Vergara, Biscay, 1564 – died at sea, 1622) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary in colonial Peru. Life He entered the Society of Jesus in 1579, and in 1585 went to Peru, where he was ordained. In 1588 he ...

References

External links

* AVILA, Francisco de
DIOSES Y HOMBRES DE HUAROCHIRÍ (fragmentos)
1573 births 1647 deaths 17th-century Peruvian Roman Catholic priests Bolivian Roman Catholic priests {{RC-clergy-stub