Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo

Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo was born on November 16, 1538, in Mayorga, in the Spanish kingdom of León. A brilliant student of law, he taught at Salamanca and served as a judge of the Inquisition in Granada. Though still a layman, he was chosen by King Philip II to be archbishop of Lima. He received holy orders and episcopal consecration in quick succession and arrived in Peru in 1581.

His archdiocese stretched across thousands of miles of coast, desert and mountains. He learned Quechua, defended the native peoples against abuse, and spent years of his episcopate visiting even the most remote villages, baptizing and confirming hundreds of thousands, among them Saint Rose of Lima. He convened the Third Council of Lima (1582–1583), which published a catechism in Spanish, Quechua and Aymara, and he founded the first seminary in the Americas. He died on Holy Thursday, March 23, 1606, at Saña, during a pastoral visit, and was canonized in 1726.

Peru honors him as a father of its Church, with Masses in Lima's cathedral and in Saña. Saint John Paul II named him patron of the bishops of Latin America in 1983, and his native Mayorga celebrates him with processions and festivities.