Juan Alcober
Spanish Dominican, missionary, martyr, Catholic saint
Feast: 9 July (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Juan Alcober was a Spanish Dominican missionary in the province of Fu-kien in China. In the persecution that broke out there in 1746, under the Emperor K'ien-lung, he was arrested with Bishop Pedro Sanz, Bishop Francisco Serrano, Francisco Diaz and Joachim Royo.
After cruel torture the viceroy condemned them to death. Sanz was put to death in May 1747 and his companions shared his fate; the five Dominicans were beatified by Leo XIII on 14 May 1893.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
One of five Spanish Dominicans put to death for the faith in China in the 1740s.
Connected on this site
- 120 martyrs of China Saint honoured together
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Martyrs in China
- Roman Martyrology, 28 October (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q4063485 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — John Alcober (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.