Peter Claver became known as the “slave of the slaves” for his ministry in Cartagena.
Peter Claver was a Spanish Jesuit who arrived in Cartagena, in present-day Colombia, in 1610. The port was a major entry point for enslaved Africans transported to Spanish America. Claver met arriving ships, offered food and medicine, and cared for people suffering from disease and brutal conditions.
He worked with interpreters to communicate with the newly arrived Africans and regarded them as fellow human beings with full spiritual dignity. During his ministry, he is traditionally said to have baptized approximately 300,000 people, though historical estimates and records vary in detail.
Claver died in Cartagena in 1654. Pope Leo XIII canonized him in 1888, along with the Jesuit missionary Peter Canisius and the Jesuit founder Ignatius of Loyola. Claver is the patron saint of enslaved people and of Colombia.