Centers and Social Projects

Schools

Formation of Educators

 1921

Appointed Royal Chaplain, he moves to Madrid where he is active in the National Commission against Illiteracy; in Student, Parent, and Professional Women Associations of Education and Teaching. He also supports the University Residence for Women which was operating since 1914. Among his collaborators are Carmen Cuesta, lawyer and first Doctor of Law; Maria de Echarri, journalist and creator of Catholic female unions; Mariana Ruiz Vallecillo, first Director of the Women's University Residence; Isabel del Castillo, one of the first collaborators from Linares...

In 1928 he is commissioned to organize the Association of Catholic Students and Female University Students, belonging to Catholic Action. He promotes the missionary spirit, with the help of Professor Magdalena Martin Ayuso. The number of Teresian Academies continues to increase in different Spanish cities, and in Santiago de Chile with the contribution of Chilean Professor Adela Edwards.

In 1929 he plays a decisive role in the founding of the Association of Catholic Teachers and the Federation of Friends of Education. He also encourages the National Association of Parents, convinced of the importance of different educational agents, especially the family.

Since he was always concerned about the marginalized and the most vulnerable, on May 24, 1930, he joined the “Hermandad del Refugio” (Brotherhood of Refuge) of Madrid to serve the poor, orphans, and the abandoned.

The last stage of his life coincided with the pre-civil war turbulent years, when the clashes at all levels made living in society almost impossible. Religious persecution acquired dramatic overtones and Pedro Poveda was one of the first victims. He was arrested in his own house moments after celebrating the Eucharist and he gave his life for his faith in the early hours of July 28, 1936. He introduced himself saying: "I am a priest of Jesus Christ." His body was found in the cemetery of the Almudena.

1913

He moves to Jaén where he continues his priestly activity as a Canon of the cathedral. He opens a new Academy, in addition to those already operating in Oviedo and Linares. He offers the leadership of the new academy to young Josefa Segovia Morón (1891-1957), who had completed her studies at the School of Education. He begins publishing the Bulletin of the Academies. He participates in many activities of the diocese and society.

 1905

He moved to Covadonga (Asturias) as a Canon of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Covadonga (the Santina). These are years of study and exchanges with many people about the importance of education and the need to help so that the separation of faith and science may not deepen. Aware of the responsibility of the State in education and of the role of teachers in the classroom, he stresses the importance of teachers to acquire and transmit an education inspired by Gospel values​.

He shares this concern by offering ideas and programs. Because of this he was seen as educationalist and educator of educators. In 1911 he opens a Pedagogical Academy for male teachers in Gijón and one for women studying at the Teachers College in Oviedo. This was the groundwork of other projects aimed at the promotion of women, whose impact on society had started to be noticed, and of the future Catholic Teresian Association.

He remained Covadonga until 1913.

 1894

He obtains a scholarship to study at the Seminary of Guadix, where he becomes aware the situation of the poor laborers living in the neighborhood of the Caves, in ignorance and destitution, and he feels the urge to contribute to their human and Christian growth.

He was ordained a priest in 1897 in Guadix. In 1901 he beings his educational and evangelizing work with cave-dwellers; he rented a cave to accompany and be closer to this population, who were denied of all sorts of resources and attention.

In 1902, aware of the importance of education, he builds and inaugurates the Sacred Heart Schools for children of the Caves. He implements the methods of Ave Maria Schools, founded by Fr. Manjón, and uses the most innovative teaching materials. Difficulties to understand this socio-educational activity forced him to leave Guadix and the Schools of the Caves in 1905.

The author's publications are numerous and varied in genre. They include spiritual writings, education works, booklets on various topics, newspaper and magazine articles, and numerous lectures or oral presentations. His epistolary writings include more than 2,600 letters.

A team of specialists in History, Philology, Pedagogy, Philosophy, and Theology have planned a Critical Edition of the author’s writings and they have planned to publish eight volumes.

The first volume of his spiritual writings was published in 2005. Pedro Poveda, Vol. I, Creí, por esto hablé, Narcea (I believed, therefore I spoke) Narcea, Madrid, 2005, 1,420 pp.

 The first volume of his Letters (1898-1917) was published in 2012. Pedro Poveda, Works, Vol. V, Epistolario, Narcea, Madrid, 2012, 561 pp.

Vol. II, about his pedagogical writings, has been published recently. Pedro Poveda, Works, Vol. II, Ensayos y Proyectos Pedagógicos (Essays and Educational Projects), Narcea Madrid, 2016, 1,300 pp.

The remaining volumes of the Critical Edition are still in the making.

 The abundant literature on the author up to 2005 is included in Vol. I of these works. From 2005 to 2016, new and interesting publications have been made and the catalog is pending.

Writings of Pedro Poveda, included in Obras, Vol. I, Creí, por pesto hablé (I believed, therefore I spoke) - Spanish

 Writings from 1906-1910

Writings of 1908

Writings of 1909

Writings of 1910

Writings of 1911

Writings of 1912

Writings of 1914

Writings of 1915

Escritos of 1916

Writings of 1917

Writings of 1918

Writings of 1919

Writings of 1920

Writings of 1922

Writings of 1923. Las llagas de Cristo, lugar de sabiduría y fortaleza

Writings of 1923. Las llagas de Cristo, lugar de sabiduría y fortaleza

Writings of 1924

Writings of 1925

Writings of 1926

Writings of 1927

Writings of 1928

Writings of 1929

Writings of 1930

Writings of 1931

Writings of 1932

Writings of 1933

Writings of 1934

Writings of 1935

Writings of 1936

St. Pedro José Luis Francisco Javier Poveda Castroverde was born on 3 December 1874 in Linares, Spain, to a solidly Christian family. His parents were José Poveda Montes and María Linarejos Castroverde Moreno. From early childhood he felt called to become a priest, and in 1889 he entered the diocesan seminary in Jaén. Because of financial difficulties, he transferred to the Diocese of Guadix, Granada, where the Bishop had offered him a scholarship. He was ordained a priest on 17 April 1897.

After ordination Fr. Poveda taught in the seminary and served the diocese in many other ways. In 1900 he completed a licentiate in theology at Seville and later began an apostolate among the "cave-dwellers", those who lived in dugouts in the hills outside of Guadix. Here he built a school for children and workshops for adults that provided professional training and Christian formation. He was misunderstood, however, and had to leave this special ministry.

So Fr. Poveda headed for the solitude of Covadonga, in the mountains of northern Spain, where, in 1906, he was appointed canon of the Basilica of Covadonga in Asturias, where the Blessed Virgin is venerated under this title.

In Covadonga, he devoted much time to prayer and reflected particularly on the problem of education in Spain. He understood that the Lord was inviting him to open new paths in the Church and in the society of his time. He began to published articles and pamphlets on the question of the professional formation of teachers and was also in contact with other persons who felt the need for the presence and action of Christians in society.

The opposition between faith and science was becoming more and more evident in the culture of his day, which carried with it a de-Christianization of the public education system. Fr Poveda, after his apostolic experience in Guadix and his years of reflection and prayer in Covadonga, understood better the need to provide Christian formation for teachers who work in the State school system. He believed that a solid faith and professional qualifications were both needed to keep the Gospel message alive.

In 1911 he opened the St Teresa of Avila Academy as a residence for students and the starting point of the Teresian Association, dedicated to the spiritual and pastoral formation of teachers. The following year he joined the Apostolic Union of Secular Priests and started new pedagogical centers and some periodicals.

To further his work Fr. Poveda moved to Jaén, where he taught in the seminary, served as spiritual director of Los Operarios Catechetical Centre, and worked at the Teacher Training College. In 1914 he opened Spain's first university residence for women in Madrid.

Meanwhile, the Teresian Association continued to develop, spreading to various groups and areas, and leading to its ecclesiastical and civil approval in Jaén. Fr. Poveda offered the Teresian Association as a new path of Christian life and evangelization created with and for lay persons, forming them to be witnesses of the Gospel, according to his expression:  "To believe firmly and to keep silent is not possible". He wanted the adherents to be ready to give their lives for the faith and in fact, expressed the same desire himself.

In 1921 Fr. Poveda moved to Madrid and was appointed a chaplain of the Royal Palace. A year later he was named a member of the Central Board against illiteracy, but most of his time was devoted to the Teresian Association, which received papal approval in 1924. Although he did not direct the Association, as its founder he worked to consolidate and promote the various dimensions of its mission as it spread to Chile and later to Italy (1934).

It was during the religious persecution in Spain that Fr. Poveda would be called to the martyrdom he so desired. At dawn on 28 July 1936, when told by his persecutors to identify himself, he said, "I am a priest of Christ." He died a martyr for the faith. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1993 and canonized in May 2003.

Further information (in Spanish):

• San Pedro Poveda Castroverde. Signo para la Iglesia y el mundo de hoy