Poveda’s life develops around five periods of time and five geographical points: Linares, Guadix, Covadonga, Jaén and Madrid.
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“I always had a predilection for Linares”
1874 - He is born on the third of December in Linares (Jaén), a booming city, were money is easily made. It counts with an agitated political life and venturous lives though nevertheless its children work in the mines and misery and alcoholism abound. Poveda, as a child, gets acquainted with the problems of its laborers and with a city that is slowly being industrialized.
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“I developed a liking for teaching the Catechism to the poor children”
1888 - He decides to become a priest at a very young age and enters the seminary of Jaén where his formation takes place in an atmosphere of simplicity, prayer, study and merriness, a period of his life he will always remember fondly. In Jaén he hears commentaries about a priest called Fr. Manjón and he admires the socio-educational work he is doing in Granada in the caves of Sacromonte. As a seminarian Poveda dedicates his free time to teach Catechism to the poor children that “used to follow him” in the streets.
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“I went to Guadix with a tremendous enthusiasm”
1884 - He gets a scholarship to continue his studies in the seminary of Guadix where he gets acquainted with the poor workers who live in the shanty quarters of the caves near the town. The “cueveros” (those living in the caves) are very indigent, uneducated people, and Poveda feels the responsibility to educate them and bring them the Good News.
“How can I forget what I accomplished in Guadix!”
1897 - Ordained in Guadix, he begins his work as evangelizer, humanist and educator among the poor laborers who live in the caves of Guadix. He wants to be close and accessible to them, so he moves and lives in one of the caves himself. He distributes alms and other donations he receives from people in the city and awakens their sensitivity towards the conditions of misery in which those people live. For this purpose he organizes the St. Vincent de Paul Conferences.
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“My work among those people whom I dearly loved cannot be easily narrated”
1902 - Convinced of the importance of education, he founds the Schools of the Sacred Heart for poor children, utilizing the innovative methodology of the New School with the consequent adaptation to their reality and for this he follows the model of the Ave María Schools founded by Fr. Manjón.
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“Give me a vocation and I’ll, in turn, give you an educational system, a method and a pedagogy”
1905 - Due to difficulties with the acceptance of his socio- educational activities he sees himself obliged to abandon the work in the Caves of Guadix and thus he moves to Covadonga (Asturias) as canon of that Basilica. There, close to Our Lady of Covadonga, popularly referred to as La Santina (The little Holy One), he reflects on the importance of education and on the need to avoid a separation between faith and science. Aware of the importance of the role of Government in matters of education, he insists upon the capital role of teachers and on the need for the presence of Christian teachers in the schools. He dedicates time to publish some writings on the problems concerning education and on the formation of teachers and professors. Due to his writings and projects he has been called “educator of educators” and a pedagogue.
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“It’s not easy to envision the role of educated women and their influence in society”
1911 - He opens a Pedagogical Academy in Gijón (Asturias) for all teachers and, concerned as he is with the promotion of women, whose importance and incidence in society he perceives, he also opens a Women’s Academy for those ladies studying to become teachers. These constitute the beginning of what later on will become the Teresian Association. The Academies are an answer to the critical situation of the times, offered from a platform of professional dedication and Christian convictions.
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“Our actions speak eloquently of who we are”
1913 - He lives in Jaén, where with the collaboration of Josefa Segovia, then a student at the Advanced Teachers School, carries out a pioneering work on the mission of lay people in the Church through the impulse of the Teresian Association. He organizes activities and encounters for teachers and professors. Some of his most important spiritual writings belong to this period.
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“Giving out kindness, goodness and patience”
1921 - Appointed Royal Chaplain, he moves to Madrid where he feverishly works, within the National Commission Against Illiteracy, with students and professors to help the deprived areas of Madrid. This time he also counts with the collaboration of a key woman, María de Echarri, a journalist, and the founder of the Labor Union of Catholic Women.
“The Teresian Association is no longer mine, it belongs to the Church”
1924. Pope Pious XI approves the Teresian Association as an international Pious Union of The Faithful. Its aim is to invite men and women to work for a social and human transformation, in accordance with Gospel values, from the platform of their own professions, especially those related to the fields of education and culture.
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“Who are the ones with ideals? The Youth!”
1928 - He is put in charge of the Catholic Students Organization for Women and also of the Women’s Branch of the University Youth movement, both part of the emerging Women’s Catholic Action. Poveda fosters the missionary spirit, (“Right now I am under the missionary obsession”) and this time he counts with the valuable help of Magdalena Martín Ayuso. Another woman, Adela Edwards, thanks to her zeal and collaboration, was able to get the Teresian Association started in Chile.
“I am convinced the success is certain if the young ladies feel at home in our Academies”
1929 - Poveda is a decisive element in the foundation of the Association of Catholic Teachers and in the Federation of Friends of Education (known as the FAE). Convinced of the importance of all agents of education and especially the family, he revitalizes the National Association of Parents.
“It is not necessary to be rich to be able to give, being good suffices”
1930 - Led by his concern for the destitute and marginalized, on May 24 he joins the Fraternity of the Shelter dedicated to the service of the poor, orphan and abandoned children in Madrid.
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“We are to love the Church very much and live the life of the first Christians”
1934 - Rome receives the first members of the Teresian Association imbued with the spirit of St. Teresa of Avila that had so many times declared her love for the Church. At this time, and with the purpose of initiating activities with the university students, emerges the figure of Josefa Groso, a most enterprising woman.
“If we have to die, we have to die, but we die with Christ, in the name of Christ and for the glory of Christ”
1936 - On July 28, at the break of the Spanish Civil War, Pedro Poveda, declaring himself a priest of Jesus Christ, dies a martyr of faith.