At Madrid in Spain, Saint Pedro Poveda Castroverde, priest and martyr, who founded the Teresian Institute to spread Christian education and, at the outbreak of the persecution against the Church, was killed in hatred of the faith, giving glorious witness to God.
Lifespan: 1874–1936
Beatified: 10 October 1993 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized: 4 May 2003 by Pope John Paul II, Madrid, Spain
Memoria liturgica: 28 July
“I am a priest of Christ”
Pedro Poveda Castroverde was born in Linares (Jaén) on 3 December 1874. From childhood he was drawn toward the priesthood. He entered the Seminary of Jaén and completed his studies at that of Guadix, the diocese in which he was ordained to the priesthood in 1897. He began his ministry at the Seminary, while also devoting his pastoral attention to those who lived in the caves situated on the outskirts of the town, for whom he established a school.
Appointed canon of Covadonga, he devoted himself to the Christian formation of pilgrims, and at the same time began to write his first works on education and the relationship between faith and science.
From 1911 onwards, together with several young collaborators, he set about founding academies and pedagogical centres, which would give rise to the Teresian Institution. He moved to Jaén to consolidate the Institution itself, which received diocesan approval there and, subsequently — while he was in Madrid as a royal chaplain — pontifical approval. A prudent and courageous priest, peaceful and open to dialogue, he offered his life for the cause of faith at dawn on 28 July 1936, identifying himself with the words “I am a priest of Christ” before those who would lead him to martyrdom.
He was beatified by John Paul II on 10 October 1993.