Juan García López-Rico (10 July 1561 – 14 February 1613), known as John Baptist of the Conception, was a Spanish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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 ...

from the

Trinitarian Order The Trinitarians, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives (; abbreviated OSsT), is a mendicant order of the Catholic Church for men founded in Cerfroid, outside Paris, in the late 12th century. From the very ou ...

who would establish a branch of his order which he named the Order of Discalced Trinitarians. He made it his mission to renew his order and he became known as a great reformer of the aims and structure of his order which he had applied to the new one that he established. He was also a prolific writer on theological matters. He was beatified in 1819 and was canonized in 1975.

Life

Juan García López-Rico was born as the fifth of eight children in 1561 to Xixón and Isabel García Marcos López-Rico. He had eight siblings and three of his siblings entered into religious life. His religious calling manifested when he was fifteen. At the age of fifteen he met

Teresa of Avila Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; ) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or reap", or from θέ ...

. This awakened in him a calling to the

Carmelites The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

but instead he chose another order. He studied grammar with the Carmelites in

Almodóvar del Campo Almodóvar del Campo is a municipality of Spain, located in the province of Ciudad Real, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. Featuring a total area of 1.208,25 km2, it is the largest municipality in the region and one of the largest m ...

and then commenced his theological studies in Baeza and

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

. He assumed the habit of the Trinitarian Order at the age of nineteen on 28 June 1580 and made his religious profession on 29 June 1581. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood in 1585. On 20 August 1599, he obtained approval for the reformation of the Trinitarians and was granted the approval of

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 ...

. He drew his inspiration of reform from Teresa of Avila whom he had met in the past. He commenced his plan of reformation for the monasteries and continued despite opposition that he faced. He died in 1613 of

nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation ...

Canonization

The process for canonization commenced under

Pope Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI (; ; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 until his death on 12 August 1689. Political and religious tensions with ...

on 16 February 1677 which granted him the posthumous title

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

. Two local processes to gather both testimonies and documentation were held in Spain and all the findings of both processes were sent to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

for further evaluation.

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII (; ; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. He was installed on 16 July 1758. ...

approved that he had lived a life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...

and proclaimed him to be

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on 10 August 1760. After the approval of two miracles attributed to his intercession,

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

beatified him on 26 September 1819. The cause for his canonization was formally opened on 27 April 1865, and a third miracle was approved on 1 January 1881.

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

canonized him on 25 May 1975.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez-Rico, Juan Garcia 1561 births 1613 deaths 17th-century venerated Christians Founders of Catholic religious communities Trinitarian saints Spanish Roman Catholic saints Canonizations by Pope Paul VI Spanish male writers Spanish Roman Catholic priests Beatifications by Pope Pius VII