José de Anchieta
José de Anchieta (born March 19, 1534 in San Cristóbal de La Laguna ( Tenerife ), † June 9, 1597 in Reritiba, today Anchieta ( Espírito Santo )) was a Spanish missionary , Jesuit and linguist . The Roman Catholic Church venerates him as a saint .
Life
José de Anchieta was born on March 19, 1534 in San Cristóbal de La Laguna on Tenerife. His father, Juan de Anchieta, was a Basque from Urrestilla in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country , who went to Tenerife in 1525. His mother, Mencía Díaz de Clavijo, was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and was a descendant of the Spanish conquerors of the archipelago. On April 7, 1534 he was baptized in the Church of Los Remedios, today's Cathedral of San Cristóbal de La Laguna .
In his childhood he suffered from severe scoliosis , which caused him complaints for life. At the age of 15 he was sent to Portugal with one of his brothers to study scholasticism and philosophy at the University of Coimbra . After graduating, he joined the Jesuit Order at the age of 17 . As a novice, he damaged his health through excessive asceticism .
In 1553 Anchieta went to Brazil as a missionary to convert the Indians and to protect them from enslavement on the plantations of the Portuguese conquerors. He founded a school in the village of Piratininga, later the Mission San Pablo , from which the city of São Paulo emerged . Anchieta, together with his college friend and missionary brother Manuel da Nóbrega, is considered to be the city's founding fathers.
In 1561 Anchieta chose the village of Reritiba, in what is now Espírito Santo state, as his residence. From there he carried out his missionary work in what is now Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and baptized about two million Indians. He was a missionary, doctor and poet at the same time. He wrote grammar, dictionary and catechetical works in Tupi , the native language. The Jesuits used the language in their missionary work. In this way Tupí became the general lingua geral of the colony. Anchieta wrote several historical works and carried out studies on the fauna, flora and geological condition of the countries visited.
In 1563 he traveled with Manuel da Nóbrega to peace negotiations between the Portuguese and the Tamoyo tribe . Anchieta was taken hostage. While being held hostage, he wrote a poem in honor of the Virgin Mary, of which he memorized over 5,000 lines.
Since there was a lack of clergy in leadership positions in the New World, Anchieta was ordained a priest in Bahia in June 1566 , a year later appointed superior of the College of São Paulo, and in 1577 he was appointed provincial , a position he held for eight years .
Due to his poor health, it became more and more difficult for him to fill his office, which was connected with arduous journeys through the poorly developed Brazil. José de Anchieta asked for his release from the post of Provincial. He headed the Espírito Santo mission station until his death. When his health deteriorated further, Anchieta was taken to his residence in Reritiba, where he died in 1597.
Honors in Brazil
Anchieta is considered the national saint of Brazil. Numerous churches and public institutions are named after him; "José Anchieta" is a common first name. El Beato Padre José de Anchieta was one of the patrons of World Youth Day 2013 .
Beatification and Canonization
Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1980 (memorial day: June 9th). To the celebrations on the occasion of the beatification in São Paulo , u. a. Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns was present, a mass was composed with rhythms and texts by the Tupi-Guaraní Indians and one of his plays was performed with 120 actors. Pope Francis approved the request of the Brazilian Bishops' Conference ( Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil , CNBB) to canonize José de Anchieta . The canonization was performed on April 3, 2014. De Anchieta is, after Peter von Betancurt , the second saint to be born in the Canary Islands. José de Anchieta is also regarded as the "third saint of Brazil" - alongside Frei Galvão and Amabile Wisenteiner .
Critical voices on José de Anchieta
Der Spiegel quotes - without citing the source - the sentence attributed to José de Anchieta: "Sword and iron staff are the best means of preaching". The original sentence is: "para êste genero de gentes not há melhor pregação do que espada e vara de ferro".
Works
- Arte de Grammatica da lingua mais vsada na costa do Brasil pelo padre Ioseph de Anchieta da Companhia de IESV. Com Licença do Ordinario é do Prepoſito geral da Companhia de IESV . Coimbra 1595.
- Monumenta Anchietana. Obras completas do Pe. José de Anchieta , 11 volumes, São Paulo 1975–1993.
See also
literature
- Michael Sievernich : José de Anchieta, Church Father of Brazil . In: Johannes Arnold u. a. (Ed.): Fathers of the Church. Ecclesial thinking from the beginnings to modern times (Festschrift for Hermann Josef Sieben), Paderborn 2004, pp. 967–992.
- Maria de Fatima Medeiros Barbosa: As letras ea cruz, pedagogia da fé e estética religiosa na experiência missionária de José de Anchieta, SI (1534–1597) . Roma 2006.
- Helen G. Dominian: Apostle of Brazil - the biography of Padre José de Anchieta, SJ, 1534–1597 . New York 2007.
credentials
- ↑ a b José de Anchieta, Santo Apostol de Brasil , Zenit.org.
- ↑ Domingo Barbuzano: La Catedral custodia una reliquia de Anchieta , El Dia, 10 March 2014.
- ↑ Misionero nacido en La Laguna (Canarias) en 1533, muerto en Reritigva (Brasil) el 9 de junio de 1597. , Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopledia.
- ↑ El Papa convierte hoy al Padre Anchieta en santo
- ↑ Der Spiegel 44/1969: They will all be exterminated
- ↑ José de Anchieta, Afrânio Peixoto, Antônio de Alcântara Machado: Cartas, Informações, Fragmentos Históricos e Sermões do padre Joseph de Anchieta, SJ (1554–1594). Rio de Janeiro 1933.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Anchieta, José de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish missionary, Jesuit and linguist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 19, 1534 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | San Cristóbal de La Laguna |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 9, 1597 |
| Place of death | Reritiba, today Anchieta ( Espírito Santo ) |