Bible connection

Christ Jesus, who, though he existed in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
     he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death—
    even death on a cross. — Philippians 2:5-8

All about Peter Claver (1580-1654)

Peter Claver came from Spain to the docks in Cartagena (now in Colombia) shortly after his training for the priesthood was completed. He was ordained there in 1615. He worked with Alfonso de Sandoval, a priest who dedicated more than forty years of his life to ministering to enslaved people. Sandoval wrote the earliest record of Black Africans in the Spanish Colonies. Peter not only took up his mentor’s mantle, he called himself “Petrus Claver, Aethiopum servus,” or “Peter Claver, slave of the Africans.”

Cartagena was a wealthy center for the slave trade. Ten thousand slaves poured into the port each year after crossing the Atlantic from West Africa under conditions so foul and inhuman that an estimated one-third of the passengers died in transit.

As soon as a slave ship entered the port, Peter Claver moved into its infested hold to minister to the ill-treated and exhausted passengers. After the slaves were herded out of the ship like animals and shut up in nearby pens to be inspected, Claver plunged in among them with medicines, food, bread, brandy, lemons, and tobacco (see this excerpt of a letter he wrote).

The life Peter Claver chose to lead defied convention. When others shrank back in repulsion, he extended his hands in love. When others avoided situations for fear of filth and feces, he bravely entered into the darkness of sickness and death with the light of Christ. What others thought of as wasted time resulted in the baptism of over 300,000  people during his ministry.

Peter Claver ventured into the places no one wanted to go, and he did the work that no one thought anyone should do. And no one could stop him. One of the great feats he completed was learning the languages of the enslaved people in order to bring them the Gospel. Claver worked with seven interpreters, one of them spoke four African dialects. With their help, he  taught the Gospel with words that could be understood. He would also use pictures in his teaching, primarily images of the crucified Christ. He sought ways for discarded people to know their dignity and worth, and they learned how deeply they were loved despite their circumstances. The image of the Suffering Servant giving his life said it all.

He said, “We must speak to them with our hands before we try to speak to them with our lips.”

Claver’s work extended beyond his care for slaves. He became a moral force in Cartagena; some said he was the “apostle” of the city. He preached in the city square, organizing the mass with sailors and traders he recruited from the ships along with the country folk coming for the markets. He avoided the hospitality of the planters and owners and lodged in the slave quarters instead.

In 1650, after dedicating nearly forty years of his life to ministering to enslaved and devalued people, Claver became ill during a virulent epidemic and nearly lost his life. After he recovered, he was still bedridden and in pain for the remaining four years of his life. He was largely forgotten and neglected as the unrelenting plague swept through.

Just a few days after another priest came to take up the mantle of ministering to the suffering Africans, Peter Claver died. It was as if he knew, while bedridden, his work was not being done until a successor arrived. It is even reported that he gathered strength to rise from his bed to greet his replacement. Upon his passing, those who had ridiculed him and mocked his ministry as “a waste” gave him a lavish state funeral.

More

This nice biography is also a spirited defense of human rights as a Catholic inspiration, not the province of a few white men, many who owned slaves (that would be you, Thomas Jefferson):

The history of St. Peter Claver Church Philadelphia (closed 2023) is interesting and a little sad. [Archdiocese site]

The Knights of Peter Claver  was organized in 1909 in Mobile, Alabama. It is the largest and oldest Black Catholic lay-led organization still in existence. It was modeled after other Catholic fraternal orders such as the Knights of Columbus, who at the time did not allow Black members in all of their councils. Here is a video of their centennial mass in 2009:

The Roman Catholic Church commemorates St. Peter Claver on September 9 instead of on his death day. It could be because Mary’s birthday has been on September 8 since the 6th Century when St. Anne’s Church was built on a site in Jerusalem where she was purportedly born.

What do we do with this?

Worldwide, there are still men and women who are being treated as objects. There are also those who have tragically forgotten or have never understood their dignity and their worth. There are many who are sick without aid or relief. There are many who are dying alone. We are all longing for the same message Peter Claver brought to the slaves from Africa: “You are loved, you are unrepeatable, and you have dignity and purpose.”

This snippet from the Forum of Christian Leadership also shows that human rights is a concept that begins with Christian thinkers. If you can’t outthink the present influencers of our day, you can support people who can. Otherwise, Peter Thiel and the like will buy all the politicians and the airwaves to sell a vision for a society in which only his kind can win [video].