Saint Pedro Poveda Castroverde

Pedro Poveda (born Pedro José Luis Francisco Javier Poveda Castroverde; 3 December 1874 – 28 July 1936) was a Spanish Catholic priest, humanitarian, and educator. He was the founder of the Teresian Association. His humanitarian-educational activity lasted for over 30 years, until his execution by persecutors of the Christian faith in 1936. Poveda was beatified in 1993 and canonized in 2003; his feast day is 28 July. Pedro Poveda was born on 3 December 1874 at Linares, Spain, into the solidly Christian family of José Poveda Montes and María Linarejos Castroverde Moreno. Deciding to become a priest at a young age, he entered the seminary in Jaén in 1889, and then transferred to the seminary of Guadix, Granada, where he had been offered a scholarship by the bishop. Ordained on 17 April 1897 at the age of twenty-three, he taught at the seminary, continued his studies, and received his licentiate in theology in Seville in 1900. In 1902 he was assigned to preach a Lenten mission in Guadix to the Roma people who lived in the caves. He began Christian doctrine classes, then two schools for the children. Poveda moved to the caves in order to live closer to the people. He began Christian doctrine classes, then a school for boys and girls, a dining room and evening classes for adults. He collected funds for the project, travelling through the province and to Madrid where he had good friends, and organized the St. Vincent de Paul Conferences. Convinced of the importance of education, he founded the Schools of the Sacred Heart for poor children. In 1905, due to difficulties with the acceptance of his socio-educational activities he was obliged to abandon the work in the Caves of Guadix and at the age of thirty-two accepted an appointment as a canon of the Basilica of Covadonga, Asturias. His time in Guadix had impressed Pedro with the need for education for the poor. He began to publish articles and pamphlets on the question of the professional formation of teachers.