Turibius of Mongrovejo

Turibius of Mogrovejo, known in Spanish as Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo y Robledo, was born on 16 November 1538 in Mayorga de Campos in the Kingdom of León, Spain, to a family of the regional nobility. His father was Luis Alfonso de Mogrovejo and his mother Ana de Robledo. He studied civil and canon law at the University of Valladolid and then at the University of Salamanca, where he distinguished himself as a jurist and later taught. Though still a layman, he was appointed in 1573 by King Philip II to preside over the tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition at Granada, an office that reflected royal confidence in his learning and personal integrity. In 1578 the same king nominated him to the metropolitan see of Lima, the principal ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Spanish South America, even though Mogrovejo had not yet received holy orders.

He protested that he was unprepared and not a priest, but papal confirmation followed. He received orders in rapid succession, was ordained to the priesthood in 1578, and was consecrated bishop in 1580, generally held to have taken place in Seville. He reached Lima in May 1581 and found an immense, poorly staffed archdiocese marked by the disorders of early colonial society. Taking the Council of Trent as his program, he convened diocesan synods and, most importantly, the Third Provincial Council of Lima (1582–1583). That assembly issued decrees on doctrine, liturgy, and discipline and authorized catechisms in Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara that remained standard for generations. He learned indigenous languages himself in order to preach and to administer the sacraments without constant reliance on interpreters.

A large part of his twenty-five years as archbishop was spent on pastoral visitations. He traveled repeatedly through coastal deserts, Andean highlands, and remote valleys, often on foot or by mule, confirming the baptized, correcting clerical abuses, founding parishes, and defending indigenous communities against encomenderos and colonial officials. In 1591 he established in Lima the first seminary in the Americas, later known as the Seminary of Saint Turibius, to form clergy according to Tridentine norms. He also promoted hospitals, schools, and confraternities. Among the many he confirmed were Isabel Flores de Oliva, later Saint Rose of Lima, and the Dominican lay brother Martín de Porres. Contemporary witnesses described him as personally austere, generous to the poor, and uncompromising toward misconduct among the clergy.

He died on 23 March 1606 at Saña (Zaña) in northern Peru while returning from a visitation. His remains were later translated to the cathedral of Lima. He was beatified by Pope Innocent XI in 1679 and canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726. The Roman Catholic Church observes his feast on 23 March. He is honored as a principal patron saint of Peru and, by later papal declaration, as patron of the bishops of Latin America. Historians regard him as one of the outstanding reforming prelates of the post-Tridentine Church in the Spanish Indies and as a defender of indigenous peoples within the legal framework of colonial Peru.