Joseph of Anchieta
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Feast | 9 June |
Attributes | Gospel Book, Crucifix and Cane |
Patronage | Catechists, against animal attacks, of those who suffer scoliosis and compatrono of Brazil |
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José de Anchieta y Díaz de Clavijo, SJ (Joseph of Anchieta; 19 March 1534 – 9 June 1597) was a
Anchieta took part in the religious instruction, evangelization, and conversion to the
With his book
Anchieta is familiarly known as "the Apostle of Brazil". He was canonized by Pope Francis on 3 April 2014. He was the second native of the Canary Islands, after Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur[1] – also a missionary to Latin America – to be declared a saint by the Catholic Church, both canonized in the 21st century. Anchieta is also considered the third saint of Brazil.[2]
Early life
Anchieta was born on 19 March 1534, in San Cristóbal de La Laguna on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Spain, to a wealthy family.[3] He was baptized on 7 April 1534 in the Parish of Our Lady of Remedies (now La Laguna Cathedral).[4] He lived in his family home, a building now known as Casa Anchieta, in La Laguna until he was 14 years old.[5]
His father, Juan López de Anchieta y Zelayaran, was a landowner from Urrestilla, in the
At the age of 14, Anchieta went to study in Portugal at the Royal College of Arts in Coimbra. He was intensely religious and felt he had a vocation to the priesthood. He sought admission to the Jesuit College of the University of Coimbra and was accepted into the Jesuits on 1 May 1551, at the age of 17.[3] While a novice, he nearly ruined his health by his excessive austerity. He had an injury to the spine that made him nearly a hunchback.[6] He learned to write Portuguese and Latin, in addition to Spanish.
Missionary in Brazil
In 1553, the Jesuits included Anchieta among the third group of their members sent to the Portuguese colony of Brazil, believing that the climate would improve his health.[3][6] After a perilous journey and a shipwreck, Anchieta and his small group of survivors arrived in São Vicente. It was the first village to have been founded by the Portuguese in Brazil. There he made his first contact with the Tapuia Indians living in the region.
In late 1553, Manuel da Nóbrega, the first Provincial of the Jesuits in Brazil, sent 13 Jesuits including Anchieta to climb the Serra do Mar to a plateau along the Tietê River that the Indians called piratininga (from Tupi pira "fish" + tininga "drying" – according to Anchieta, more than 12,000 fish could be found drying along the Tietê river floodplains after one of its customary floods).
There the Jesuits established a small missionary settlement and celebrated Mass for the first time on 25 January 1554, date of the
Anchieta and Nóbrega had long opposed the way the Portuguese colonists were treating the Indians and had a serious conflict about it with
The two Jesuits perceived the French colony as a generally Protestant enterprise, ignoring its Catholic components and making no distinction between Lutherans and Calvinists.[8] Anchieta recognized that violence could be necessary to create the conditions for evangelizing the indigenous inhabitants. He later praised the colony's third Governor General, Mem de Sá (1500–1572), for what he accomplished in eliminating cannibalism, even though it was done by killing large numbers of Amerindians.[9]
Due to the systematic killings and ransacking of their villages by Portuguese colonists, together with attempts to
The conflict was brutal and at once international and inter-religious. In one instance the Portuguese hanged ten Frenchmen in an attempt to intimidate their enemies into submission. In another in 1557, a Protestant named Jacques le Balleur was put to death. By some accounts, Anchieta helped the executioner carry out the sentence,[10] though the facts are much disputed.[11]
The Tamoyo Confederation attacked São Paulo several times between 1562 and 1564 without success. Anchieta and Nóbrega initiated peace negotiations with the Tamoyo in the village of
Portuguese-French hostilities were renewed in 1565 when
After the peace settlement, a Jesuit college was founded in Rio under the direction of Nóbrega. Anchieta was invited to remain and succeeded him upon his death in 1570. Despite his frailty and ill health, and the rigors of slow travel by foot and ship, over the next ten years Anchieta traveled extensively among Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Espírito Santo and São Paulo, consolidating the Jesuit mission in Brazil. In 1577 the fourth superior general of the Jesuits, Everard Mercurian, appointed Anchieta as provincial superior of the order's members in Brazil.
As his health worsened, Anchieta requested relief from his duties in 1591. He died in Brazil on 9 June 1597, at Reritiba, Espírito Santo.
Works
In the tradition of Jesuits, Anchieta was a prolific rapporteur, communicating by letters to his superiors. His reports establish him as an ethnographer, though he focused on Amerindian behavior that did not follow European norms, such as their choice of marriage partners, cannibalism, and the role of sorcerers.[12] His detailed testimony with respect to cannibalism is often cited by anthropologists. He explained, for example, that the Amerindians "believe that true kinship comes from the side of the fathers, who are the agents, and ... that the mothers are nothing more than bags in which the children grow" and therefore treat the children of a captured female and a member of their tribe with respect but sometimes eat the children of a captured male and a female member of their own tribe.[13] He detailed the practice of polygamy and, because it had produced dense networks of interrelations, advocated easing the church's consanguinity rules to allow all but brothers and sisters to marry.[9]
Anchieta was a pioneer in transcribing the
He was also a historian, author of a biography of Mem de Sá. Composed of hexameters,
His dramas, written in a combination of Tupi, Portuguese, Spanish, and Latin, were not meant for the stage but for performance by local amateurs in village squares and churchyards. They were traditional in form, written in verse with five-line stanzas, a literary form known as the auto, a Portuguese devotional drama, following the tradition the Jesuits had developed of using the theater first in classrooms and then for popular instruction. Casts were all male, both native and European, and both groups were meant to learn from the dramas' instruction in Christian morals. They were written for special occasions like a saint's feast day or to mark the arrival of relics in the colony. Scholars have noted that they contain considerable "contextual information", that is references to local events such as village rivalries. For example, Amerindian cannibalism is juxtaposed with the roasting of
As a keen naturalist, he described several new plants and animals among the novelties of Brazil's wildlife and geography.[18]
His lucid and detailed reports are still important for understanding the beliefs, manners, and customs of the native peoples and European settlers of the sixteenth century.
He was also an excellent surgeon and physician.
His manuscripts were gathered from archives in Portugal and Brazil in the 1730s as part of the process for his beatification and deposited in Rome.[12] His works have been published as Cartas, Informações, Fragmentos Históricos e Sermões (Letters, Reports, Historical Fragments and Sermons).
Legacy
José de Anchieta is celebrated as the founder of Brazilian letters and, with Nóbrega, Apostle of Brazil.
In 1965, the Spanish postal service issued a stamp with the image of Anchieta, in a series called "Los Forjadores de América".[19]
Ney Latorraca starred in the Brazilian biographical film, Anchieta, José do Brasil, which was released in 1977.[20][21]
Veneration
Anchieta's cause was formally opened on 22 June 1624, granting him the title of
When
He used a process known as equivalent canonization that dispenses with the standard judicial procedures and ceremonies in the case of someone long venerated.[25] Anchieta was the first Spaniard canonized by Pope Francis.[26]
During and after his life, José de Anchieta was considered almost a supernatural being. Many legends formed around him, such as that he once preached to and calmed an attacking jaguar. To this day, a popular devotion holds that praying to Anchieta protects against animal attacks.
José de Anchieta is highly revered in the
Patronage
José de Anchieta is the patron saint and model of catechists. He was also declared by Pope Benedict XVI as one of the thirteen Intercessors of the World Youth Day 2013, held in Rio de Janeiro.[27]
In April 2015 he was declared by the
Shrines in his honor
The main shrines dedicated to Saint José de Anchieta in Brazil and the Canary Islands are those that are directly related to his life:
- Bishop of Tenerife presiding, followed by a procession with his image through the streets to his birthplace, where flowers are again strewn.[30]
- Brazil: The National Shrine of San José de Anchieta is located in the town of Reritiba (now called Anchieta) in the state of Espirito Santo. The sanctuary has an important museum of sacred art and is built in the place where he lived the last years of his life and died.[31] Here the national holiday dedicated to the saint is celebrated with pilgrimages of faithful from throughout Brazil. Following the declaration of Anchieta as copatron of Brazil in 2015, the church was declared a National Shrine.[32]
See also
- List of saints of the Canary Islands
- Jesuit Reductions
- Colonial Brazil
- France Antarctique
References
- ^ Ginovés, Patricia (2 April 2014). "El Papa convierte hoy al Padre Anchieta en santo". La Opinión de Tenerife (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
- ^ José de Anchieta será o terceiro santo do Brasil
- ^ a b c d Sladky, Joseph F.X. (10 June 2013). "José de Anchieta, S.J.: Apostle of Brazil". Crisis Magazine. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ^ Barbuzano, Domingo (10 March 2014). "La Catedral custodia una reliquia de Anchieta". El Día. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
- ^ "Empiezan las obras de rehabilitación de la Casa Anchieta tras 13 años de abandono". El Día (in Spanish). 29 December 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ a b c Campbell, Thomas. "Joseph Anchieta", The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 1 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907). Retrieved 6 February 2013
- ^ "Piratininga became São Paulo: the old college is today a metropolis". City of Sao Paulo. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- S2CID 143457886.
- ^ ISBN 9780826338426.
- ISBN 9789004242074.
- ^ "Conheça a vida do Beato José de Anchieta, fundador de cidades, missionário gramático, poeta, teatrólogo e historiador". C3 Press. 18 December 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ^ JSTOR 3513990.
- JSTOR 482091.
- ISBN 9783110822120.
- ISBN 9781107377028.
- ISBN 9780804742801.
- ^ ISBN 9781118661352.
- ^ ISBN 9780849326738.
- ^ "Sello: 1683- Forjadores de América. Padre José de Anchieta. 2,50 pts lila y azulde España Europa".
- IMDb
- ^ Maria Ignês Carlos Magno, "História e literatura através do cinema", in Videografia, available online, accessed 9 April 2014
- ^ Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 123.
- ^ "El lagunero Padre Anchieta será canonizado en abril". elDiario.es (in Spanish). 28 February 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
- ^ Barbuzano, D. (1 March 2014). "La canonización de Anchieta en primicia" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 15 February 2017.
- ^ Scaramuzzi, Jacopo (3 April 2014). "'Flying Priest' Becomes a Saint". Vatican Insider. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ "Santos españoles canonizados por el Papa Francisco. Conferencia Episcopal Española". Spanish Episcopal Conference (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Patrones e Intercesores de la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud 2013". World Youth Day 2013. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012.
- ^ "53ª ASSEMBLEIA GERAL DA CNBB - Arquidiocese de Fortaleza". Arquidiocese de Fortaleza. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ Barbuzano, Domingo (10 March 2014). "La Catedral custodia una reliquia de Anchieta" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 January 2016.
- ^ a b "Fiesta de San José de Anchieta". Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna (in Spanish). 8 June 2016. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016.
- ^ "Museo Nacional de São José de Anchieta em Santuário Nacional de São José de Anchieta". Archived from the original on 27 July 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ Scalzer, Patrícia (26 April 2015). "São José de Anchieta é declarado padroeiro do Brasil". Globo. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
Further reading
- Dominian, Helen G. (1958). Apostle of Brazil: The Biography of Padre José de Anchieta, S.J. (1534–1597). Exposition Press.
- de Lima, Jorge (1934). Anchieta (in Spanish). Rio de Janeiro: Civilisação Brasileira.
External links
- Biography of San José de Anchieta, Diocese of Tenerife (in Spanish)
- José de Anchieta, Santo (in Spanish)
- San José de Anchieta (in Spanish)
- A Catalog of Anchieta's Works: National Library Foundation, Brazil (in Portuguese)
- Facsimile reproductions of Anchieta's poems and some of his sources for contrafacta (in Portuguese)
- Cartas, Informações, Fragmentos Históricos e Sermões: Facsimile reproduction of the principal collection of Anchieta's published works (in Portuguese)
- Association for the Canonization of Anchieta
- Images of Anchieta on stamps, seals, and coins
- Works by José de Anchieta at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Joseph of Anchieta at Internet Archive
- Works by Joseph of Anchieta at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)