Venerable Alonso Messia Bedoya

Alonso Messia Bedoya (Pacaraos, Peru, January 10, 1655 – Lima, January 5, 1732) was a virtuous Jesuit. He was the son of General Francisco Messia y Ramón and Francisca Bedoya y Campusano. He studied at the Colegio Real de San Martín and the Colegio Máximo de San Pablo in Lima, obtaining a Master of Arts degree. After being ordained a priest, he earned a Doctorate in Theology from the National University of San Marcos. He taught at the Jesuit college in Cuzco, where he learned Quechua and other native languages, gaining a reputation as a skilled preacher and theologian. Upon returning to Lima, he assumed the rectorship of the Colegio del Príncipe in the Indian Reducción of Cercado. He was appointed a Qualifier of the Tribunal of the Holy Office and confessor to the nuns of the Monastery of Jesús María. After his appointment as provincial of Quito was annulled in 1705, he served as Superior of the Professed House of Nuestra Señora de Desamparados in Lima. He founded the Monastery of Santa Rosa de Lima in 1708 and served as provincial of the Province of Peru from 1711 to 1714. In that capacity, he founded the Jesuit college in Moquegua and established two chairs at the University of San Marcos: Prima of Scholastic Theology and Vespers of Controversies. He was a confessor to the Viceroy, the Marquess of Castelfuerte. He is considered Venerable.