Servant of the Servants of God for perpetual memory  

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world [...]. From now on, let no one make trouble for me: for I bear the marks of Jesus in my body" (Gal 6: 14,17).

The priest and martyr Pedro Poveda Castroverde, founder of the Teresian Association, received the singular grace to inspire all his spiritual life and his whole existence, even death, in the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, culminating on the Cross. The Cross was for Pedro a constant stimulus to holiness and the key to his configuration with Christ, which he fully perfected in himself to give his life for him.

Blessed Pedro Poveda Castroverde was born in the city of Linares, Jaén, on the 3rd of December, 1874. His parents raised him in Christian education, also open to other aspects of human culture. Since his adolescence he was attracted to the priesthood. He entered the Seminary of the Diocese of Guadix, and in 1897 he received the sacred order of the presbyterate. He played many ecclesiastical duties, and since 1902 worked actively to promote a society in accordance with human and Christian customs, especially among the marginalized population living in the caves near the town of Guadix; he built schools for children and workshops for adults. Looking to Jesus Christ as "the foundation of education and basis of all moral and material progress,” he installed the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel, cave of "Our Lady of Grace.” Here he received the call to this kind of apostolate.

Appointed a Canon of the Basilica of Santa Maria of "Covadonga" in 1906, he tended to the Christian formation of pilgrims, devoting time tirelessly to prayer and apostolate. He was concerned with social education and the necessity of faith and knowledge. He published numerous articles and pamphlets in which he propagated a new profile of the lay faithful and founded Academies and Educational Centers, laying the foundation for the Teresian Association, which in 1917, won diocesan ecclesiastical approval in the city of Jaen as a Pious Union of the Faithful. While Pedro resided in Madrid, in 1924, the Pious Union was approved by an Apostolic Brief of Pope Pius XI, our predecessor in recent times. This association of the faithful, following the example of St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church, proposed to its members, especially through education and cultural activity, the lifestyle that Christians had in the early Church.

A prudent and fearless priest, open to dialogue, adorned with solid virtues and heroic charity, nourished the faith of many with excellent spiritual advice, promoted action and worked diligently with Catholic Action and various institutions. Teacher of education and prayer, teacher of Christian life and the relationships between faith and knowledge, he studiously worked for social justice and human solidarity.

During the religious persecution in Spain, on the morning of July 28, 1936, as he was led to martyrdom because of his faith, he uttered these words: "I am a priest of Christ"; immediately he was martyred.

In 1955 his cause of canonization was instructed in Madrid. On December 21, 1992 the Decree on martyrdom and virtues was promulgated. As the process has been diligently completed, We, on the 10th of October 1993, with a solemn rite declared Pedro Poveda Castroverde Blessed at the tomb of the Apostle Peter. On January 22, 2003 we enacted the Decree on the miracle attributed to the intercession of this same Blessed. Once we heard the favorable opinions of Cardinals and Bishops, in the Consistory held on the 7th of March of the same year, we established that the rite of canonization, given the occasion of our Pastoral Visit, take place in Madrid on the 4 of May, 2003.

So today, before a multitude of God's people and many pastors of the Church, we are pleased to proclaim the formula of canonization:

For the honor of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother Bishops, we declare and define Blessed Pedro Poveda, José María Rubio, Genoveva Torres, Ángeles de la Cruz and Maria Maravillas de Jesus to be Saints and we enroll them among the Saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Concluded the customary prayer, we have revered this exceptional man, and admiring his heroic industriousness and his wonderful examples of faith, we have invoked his protection in support of the whole Church. What we have decreed, we want it to be valid now and in the future, excluding anything to the contrary.

I, John Paul
Bishop of the Catholic Church

Marcelo Rosetti, Apostolic Protonotary