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Alonzo de Barcena
Spanish missionary and linguist
SaintResearchedCrown of CastileSociety of JesusPost-1588
Feast: 31 December (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
1528
verified
Died
15 January 1598
verified
Beatified
—
not on record
Canonised
—
not on record
Who they were
Alonso de Bárcena of Andalusia became a Jesuit in 1565 and went to Peru, helping to found the mission of Juli on Lake Titicaca.
He worked among the peoples of Bolivia, Tucumán and Paraguay, knowing eleven Native languages and writing grammars and catechisms in most of them. Worn out, he died at Cuzco on 15 January 1598.
The miracles
The Catholic Encyclopedia does not describe how he came to be honoured as a saint.
Why that counted as sanctity
A missionary who spoke the languages of the peoples he served.
Sources
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Alonzo de Barcena
- Wikidata Q4734593 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Alonzo de Barcena (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.