St. Peter Claver

Summary

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Catholic Saints Podcast — St. Peter Claver

Host: Mary (Augustine Institute)
Guest: Dr. Carl Venisham
Date: September 9, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode offers an in-depth exploration of the life and legacy of St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit missionary known for his tireless service to enslaved Africans in the New World. Dr. Carl Venisham and host Mary discuss Claver’s historical background, missionary context, spiritual virtues, and relevance for Catholics today. Through historical insight and personal reflection, they reveal how St. Peter Claver’s selfless love and humility make him a compelling model for Christian life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. St. Peter Claver: Historical & Biographical Context

• Birth & Vocation

  • Born in Spain, 1581; joined the Jesuits, an order with a strong missionary focus [00:45].
  • Requested and received assignment to “New Granada” (now Colombia and Panama) after studies in Barcelona.

• Mission in the New World

  • Arrived in a region shaped by Colonial conquest and the transatlantic slave trade [01:19].
  • Ordained a priest; dedicated life to ministering to enslaved Africans arriving from Congo and Angola [02:29].

“He spends his life especially focused on serving the slaves that were being brought to the New World.” — Dr. Carl Venisham [01:59]

2. Colonial Motivations: Politics and Religion

• Tensions of the Missionary Enterprise
  • The Spanish empire’s primary motive was economic gain, yet the Catholic Church sought to evangelize [03:31].
  • Missionaries like Claver often had different, more spiritual motives compared to colonial administrators.

“It's not black and white. And this is the case almost always that there's this mixed bag of intentions.” — Dr. Carl Venisham [03:31]

• Claver’s Distinct Purpose
  • Sought first and foremost to “be the slave of the slaves.” [05:21]

“Peter Claver says that he was the slave of the slaves. So that was his goal, was to be their slave.” — Dr. Carl Venisham [05:21]

3. Missionary Methods and Fruitfulness

• Tangible Results
  • Baptized and catechized approximately 300,000 enslaved people [05:55].
  • Used a team of seven interpreters to overcome language barriers; taught visually when translation was impossible [06:15].

“He is said to have baptized 300,000 slaves. Whoa. But baptized and catechized. So he was an extremely industrious person.” — Dr. Carl Venisham [05:55]

• Holistic Ministry
  • Claver’s evangelization extended beyond teaching—he provided food, medicine, comfort, and physical care [06:59].

“This is how we spoke to them, not with words, but with our hands and our actions.” — St. Peter Claver, as cited by Dr. Venisham [07:46]

• Pastoral Empathy
  • Overcame deep-seated fear and trauma among the enslaved, communicating love through action [08:50].

4. Parallels to Other Saints & Broader Ministry

• Comparison with Mother Teresa
  • Like Mother Teresa, Claver ministered through tangible acts of love, serving lepers, prisoners, and the marginalized [09:11, 09:35].

“Action of love as you're sharing more. So you said he wasn't just a missionary of words, but a missionary of, like, corporal love as well. The humanity.” — Mary [09:01]

• Evangelizing All
  • Served both slaves and their owners; preached repentance even to those suffering great injustice, demonstrating both courage and universality [09:54].

5. Virtues and Misconceptions

• Facing Criticism
  • Some critics argue Claver’s association with slavery taints his legacy, but the podcast counters he subverted the system by humbling himself and honoring the dignity of the enslaved [11:35].

“He would put slaves in a place of higher dignity than he held. He would have them sit on chairs and he would sit on the floor.” — Dr. Carl Venisham [12:11]

• Energetic Humility
  • Claver’s humility was active, not passive—he endured mistreatment and worked tirelessly for the oppressed [13:09].

“He's a good example of an energetic pursuit of humility. It's easy to think of humility as being kind of just like low energy or just kind of super passive.” — Dr. Carl Venisham [12:14]

6. Scriptural Foundations and Liturgical Memory

• Feast Day Readings
  • Claver’s memorial (September 9) draws from Isaiah 58 and Matthew 25, which highlight his charitable works and echo Jesus’ call to serve the least [14:06–15:18].

“‘Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless …’ The readings just so beautifully depict a lot of the ethos of what you were sharing of his life.” — Mary [14:06]

7. Personal Reflections & Takeaways

• Inspiration for Today
  • Both speakers encourage listeners to imitate Claver’s all-encompassing love, treating all people with dignity regardless of status [16:50].

“He's very worthy of our prayers and … we should honor him with our lives and … follow in his footsteps.” — Dr. Carl Venisham [16:28]

• Universal Love
  • Jesus, and by extension Claver, loved both rich and poor without distinction, always seeking salvation for all [17:06].

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “This is how we spoke to them, not with words, but with our hands and our actions … Then we sat, or rather knelt beside them and bathed their faces and bodies with wine.” — St. Peter Claver (read by Dr. Venisham) [07:46]
• “There were a lot of different people in these ships, and so [Claver] had interpreters … For those whose language wasn't covered, he would preach with pictures.” — Dr. Carl Venisham [06:15]
• “He would act in a way that would bring about everyone's salvation, whether they were rich people or poor people.” — Dr. Carl Venisham [17:06]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:45 — St. Peter Claver’s biography and vocational calling
• 01:19 — Mission to New Granada and context of the colonial Church
• 05:21 — “Slave of the slaves” — Claver’s motivation and mission statement
• 05:55 — Baptizing/catechizing 300,000 slaves and overcoming cultural barriers
• 06:59 — Claver’s deeds of corporal mercy and his own words about ministry
• 09:35 — Serving lepers, prisoners, and even slave owners; holistic outreach
• 12:11 — Claver’s humility and refutation of modern misconceptions
• 14:06 — Biblical readings for his feast, connecting Scripture to his ministry
• 16:28 — Dr. Venisham’s final exhortation to follow Claver’s example
• 17:06 — Universal charity: “Jesus would … bring about everyone’s salvation”

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Conclusion

This episode richly illustrates St. Peter Claver’s singular devotion to the marginalized, his courageous humility, and his impact as a model saint. By translating the radical Christian love of the Gospel into hands-on service, Claver remains a powerful witness for modern believers. Listeners are invited to honor his legacy not just in prayer, but through imitation—seeing and serving Christ in every person, regardless of status or circumstance.

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St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Transcript

[A]

You're listening to a podcast on Catholic Saints. This podcast is produced by the Augustine Institute, an apostolate helping Catholics understand, live.

[B]

And share their faith.

[A]

Hello. Welcome to Catholic Saints. My name is Mary and I'm joined with Dr. Carl Venisham. Thank you for joining us.

[B]

Very glad to be here, Mary.

[A]

In today's episode, we're going to talk about the life of St. Peter Claver. One of. One of the best.

[B]

Yeah, one of the best. Yeah, yeah. A great early modern saint and a great missionary.

[A]

Absolutely, absolutely. Can we start with a biographical sketch about this saint?

[B]

Yeah, sure. So he was born in Spain, born in 1581, and he becomes a Jesuit, which was really taking off at this time, the Jesuits, this grand missionary order. So he wants to go to the New World. And after he studies in Barcelona for a while, he's granted this request and he's sent to New Granada, which is modern day Colombia and Panama. I think you're supposed to say Colombia, Colombia. I always say Colombia, and that's wrong.

[A]

And the New World is North America. South America.

[B]

Yeah. North and South America, yeah. For the Spanish, it's meant especially south and Central America. Okay. Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah. So obviously, 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and they kept going there for a long time for a variety of reasons, but one of them was the rich stores of gold and silver which were to be found there. So, yeah, there's an interesting sort of confluence of things going on that we could discuss between this colonial empire, but the church is going with it. They're opposed to each other in a lot of ways, but they also coordinate. So it's complicated and difficult. He does go there, and a few years later, he's ordained a priest. He spends his life especially focused on serving the slaves that were being brought to the New World. So these slaves were coming from the Congo and Angola, in Africa.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And they were brought to New Granada in order to work in the mines. And so I think we've all heard these kind of stories, but it's worth emphasizing the brutality of all of this. The passage from Africa to the New World was horrific. And often up to one third of the passengers on these ships would die. And they would arrive and be penned up for. For weeks, and then they lived a miserable existence in the mines. Often. At least. At least many of them.

[A]

One quick question here. Was he sent to the New World by his superior, or was it more of a political move where, you know, they were intentionally sending over Spanish missionaries to bring Catholicism from a political motive, or was it more for religious reasons. To go and take care of the people in the New World, particularly the people who were in slavery.

[B]

Yeah. So I think different people had different motivations. It's not black and white. And this is the case almost always that there's this mixed bag of intentions. So you think about the early church when. With the Christian emperors, and oftentimes what the Christian emperors wanted was a united Roman Empire. And one of the best ways to get a united Roman Empire was to have everyone in the same religion. And so they wanted everyone to have peace and get rid of heresy so that they could have a united empire.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And they were willing to sacrifice orthodoxy to get that. You could say kind of something similar about the people who were organizing life in the New World from Spain or Portugal or wherever, that their main interest was in gaining profit from these ventures. And the best way to make sure everything ran really smoothly was to have everyone on the same page. And so it was sort of in their interest to have missionaries along, whereas at least, probably not most of the missionaries had that in mind. Rather, they wanted to share the good news of Jesus Christ and they were willing to go along or at least be associated with this other thing, even though they came into conflict with it often.

[A]

Okay. Yep. No, it's. That is helpful. There's different layers and motivations at every stage depending on where and, you know, what part of government or society. Yeah. You are working out of. But it does sound like St. Peter Claver and his team of other Jesuit missionaries were going first and foremost to serve the slaves and create Catholic community in the New World.

[B]

Yeah, that's right. Yeah. And Peter Claver says that he was the slave of the slaves. So that was his goal, was to be their slave.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And so he had to get there. And, like, there was a sort of context necessary for that. But that was his goal, and he seems to have accomplished it.

[A]

I was going to say, do we know if the people were receptive to him? Was it a fruitful mission? Were there a lot of converts or were there? Yeah. What was the receptivity of his mission work?

[B]

When you put it into numbers, it's kind of crazy. So he is said to have baptized 300,000 slaves. Whoa. But baptized and catechized. So he was an extremely industrious person. It took a lot of coordination and organization to do this. So there were slaves coming from Africa. There was a diverse set of languages that was represented amongst them. And so he had interpreters. He had seven interpreters who were working with him, and he would Go to these people and give them some basic catechesis and preach the gospel to them through these interpreters for the people who. He didn't have an interpreter for whose language wasn't covered. He would preach the gospel to them with these pictures of the events of Scripture and of salvation history and of the basic realities and mysteries of the faith.

[A]

Great role model for catechist, for evangelist.

[B]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

Unity for all sorts.

[B]

Yeah. And it wasn't just a message of words. So when the slave ships arrived, they would sort of huddle all these slaves into this camp. And so he would go in and he would bring them food, citrus fruit, aromatics, medicine, tobacco, all these things these people needed and wanted. And they would. They would split up the sick from the people who weren't sick and give special care to them, help them bathe. He. And he says this in a letter about this exercise, which is. Which is really beautiful. I think this is Peter Claver.

[A]

Where does the letter come from?

[B]

It was a letter he sent to another priest, actually. I don't have the name of the recipient copy down here. Yeah, so. So he says, this is how we spoke to them. Not with words, but with our hands and our actions. And, in fact, convinced as they were that they had been brought here to be eaten, any other language would have proved utterly useless. Then we sat, or rather knelt beside them and bathed their faces and bodies with wine. We made every effort to encourage them with friendly gestures and displayed in their presence the emotions which somehow naturally tend to hearten the sick. So I don't know. I think that's really amazing that if you've ever been in a situation where you don't speak the same language as someone. I mean, usually in my case, it's like I just want to buy a croissant from them. And so you can sort of, like, work that out. But it's immensely more complicated if you think about it like this person who's been ripped from their home, sent on this grueling journey, and then has this person come up to them, and they have no real way of knowing if this is, like, friend or foe.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But somehow he was able to communicate with this person that he actually loved them.

[A]

Which is. Yes. Can transcend words.

[B]

Yeah, that's right.

[A]

Action of love as you're sharing more. So you said he wasn't just a missionary of words, but a missionary of, like, corporal love as well. The humanity.

[B]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

Of the other. And it just reminded me a little bit of Mother Teresa, who, you know. You know, would serve any Any person and just would help take care of their wounds, give them food, would love them, learn their language, but would first and foremost try to communicate love in taking care of their human needs.

[B]

Right.

[A]

As a foundation of sharing the gospel first and foremost through that action of love.

[B]

Yeah, that's right. Yeah. And also, like Mother Teresa, Peter Claver served lepers. There's a. A hospital for lepers there.

[A]

Oh, interesting.

[B]

He also spent a lot of time in the prison ministering to prisoners, to people who are on the equivalent of death row.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

He also was a missionary to the slave owners. And the idea, I think, is kind of just that he saw everyone as a human being and tried to convert them. This is the other interesting thing. When you read the accounts of what he said to the prisoners or what he said to the slaves, it wasn't all just like, oh, you're in a terrible position. I'm so sorry. How can I help? He was also preaching the hard parts of the Gospel. Like, even though you're being oppressed, you also need to repent. Music. It takes a lot of courage to say something like that, but it is an act of love. And so he would say that to the prisoners. Do penance while you can still do penance before. Before you're executed. Yeah. And so a lot of the slave owners hated him, or they thought he was wasting the time of the slaves with. With worship and all these Christian things. But a lot of them also showed him respect. There was a kind of undeniable excellence to his character.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So that when he died, everyone wanted a giant celebration for him, like the civil authorities, the slaves, all the natives who live there.

[A]

Now. That is really striking. For one person to be able to reach all levels at a funeral for that person, you have people who probably wouldn't typically sit together, which is even just more of a witness to his life and work and imitation of Jesus Christ. Are there any misconceptions about St. Peter Claver or virtues that, as you're summarizing his work in life, you would associate with him?

[B]

Yeah. There are some people who are worried that St Peter Claver is not. So he's the patron saint of slaves. And there are some people say, like, no. In fact, he's actually the opposite of that. He was part of this, like, evil system, and he made slavery somehow worse. And I don't know, it seems like a little bizarre to say that. To me, this is a person who would put slaves in a place of higher dignity than he held. He would have them sit on chairs and he would sit on the floor.

[A]

Like you said, slave of the slaves.

[B]

Yeah. And he said he was a slave of the slaves. That seems odd to me, at least. But he's a good example of an energetic pursuit of humility. It's easy to think of humility as being kind of just like low energy or just kind of super passive. Super passive, yeah. And there's some elements, like, even in his life, where he said he wanted to be like an ass, like a donkey. So if the ass is kicked, he's dumb. Like, he doesn't say anything. If the ass isn't given food, he doesn't say anything. And actually, at the end of his life, he was sick in bed and dying. And this went on for a few months. And there was a slave who was taking care of him, but, like, wouldn't feed him and maltreated him, like, really horribly. And Peter Claver never told anyone about this.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So, like, it was a secret that he took to his grave. So, yeah, there is, like, that element of humility, but also this energy in which he pursued humility. Like, he worked really hard to get financial support to help the slaves, but also to convince other people to help the slaves, to spend all his time with them. And so, yeah, you can see this aspect of humility in a really energetic mode.

[A]

Yes, that makes sense. To that first point, someone who can receive the injustices and not fight back, I often will react, and that's not fair.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

I could use a little his intercession in my life for those moments of intercession.

[B]

And it's important for somebody who wants to serve people who have been on the receiving end of horrible injustice, that he or she should also be able to receive unjust.

[A]

That's a really good point.

[B]

Injustice with patience.

[A]

Yeah, I was pulling up the readings for.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

The readings of the day for the memorial of St. Peter Claver, and his feast day is September 9th. And the readings just so beautifully depict a lot of the ethos of what you were sharing of his life. The first one comes from Isaiah 58, and I'll just start in the middle. Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless, clothing the naked when you see them and not turning your back on your own, then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed. It continues. Or if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted, then the light shall rise free in the darkness. So just beautiful readings from Scripture, verses from Isaiah that really Capture, like you're saying, his work and ministry to be slave of the slaves. And then the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew 25, is proclaimed on his memorial as well. And part of Matthew 25 are the beautiful words Jesus says to his disciples when he says, for I was hungry, you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, a stranger, and you welcomed me naked, and you clothed me ill, and you cared for me in prison, and you visited me.

[B]

Yeah, that's cool. Yeah. And this is one of the really neat things about the. The calendar of feast days for these saints is that these Old Testament prophecies of Christ are also, in a kind of way, prophecies of saints, because saints are people who are especially conformed to Christ, so they're going to be like him. And so when we read the Old Testament or even the New Testament, these descriptions of Christ, it makes us think of saints.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

That's who they are.

[A]

Yes. Okay. And may I ask, do you have a special devotion to him, or how did you discover him in your. In your life or your years of study? Was there a particular moment where you were more curious about the saint?

[B]

Yeah. Well, our own Father James, who knows a lot more about St. Peter Claver than I do.

[A]

Father James is our chaplain here.

[B]

Yeah, Father James is our chaplain. He gave a really Beautiful homily on St Peter Claver, which made me explore him a little more.

[A]

Yeah, that's great. Well, as we are closing this episode, any other concluding thoughts about St. Peter Claver?

[B]

Yeah, I just think he's a good person for us to. We can attend to his life and try to model our lives on his. Yeah. That. He's very worthy of our prayers and. Yeah. In a. In a way, our. We should honor him with our lives and. Yeah. Follow in his footsteps.

[A]

Yes. Amen. And treat all people with that equal dignity. Sometimes you have a tendency of, oh, this person has influence. So I will treat them differently than the other. I love that challenge, too, to. To show the love of God.

[B]

That's what Jesus would do. He would act in a way that would bring about everyone's salvation, whether they were rich people or poor people. He wouldn't hate rich people because he loves poor people. And he wouldn't hate poor people because he loves rich people.

[A]

Amen. Amen. Well, thank you so much for joining on this episode of Catholic saints. St. Peter Claver, pray for us.