Celebrating the Feast Day of St. Peter Claver, known as the apostle for African Americans, holds much importance these days as America continues to struggle with racism, the Diocese of Grand Rapids said.

“As our society continues to struggle with the evil and sin of racism, we can, through the intercession of St. Peter Claver, come together to pray for healing, atone for the Church’s and our past personal sins of racism, seek forgiveness, and call on the Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen us in continuing to work for peace and racial justice,” the diocese posted online. 

St. Peter Claver was born in Verdú, Spain, in 1851. He became a Jesuit priest in his 30s and served in Cartagena, Colombia, where Peter saw the horrors of the slave trade and dedicated himself to helping those enslaved, Britannica says. 

He spread the faith while tending to the sick and working with the slaves in Colombia. He is said to have converted and baptized more than 300,000 slaves. St. Peter Claver was canonized by Pope Leo XIII, and in 1896, declared him “patron of all Roman Catholic missions to African peoples,” Britannica adds. He died in Cartagena, Colombia, in 1654, and his feast day is Sept. 9.

St. Peter Claver’s life as a missionary to slaves is detailed by the Jesuits. In 17th-century Colombia, many European colonists participated in the slave trade in opposition to Pope Paul III’s condemnation. The Jesuits admit that their order enslaved many during St. Peter Claver’s time, although today they call it a “deeply regretful chapter” of the order’s history. 

St. Peter’s approach to working with enslaved people was straightforward. “We must speak to them with our hands before we try to speak to them with our lips,” Jesuits.org credits him as saying. He baptized many children on the slave ships. 

St. Peter’s humility and his dedication to the less fortunate led him to be able to carry our miracles, Jesuits.org says. He is said to have healed the sick, just as Christ did. 

In the National Catholic Register, writer John Grondelski describes how St. Peter Claver’s life is an example of perseverance while the Church and the state debate the topic of slavery. 

“It would still take three centuries for much of the world to recognize the incongruity between human dignity and slavery, something Claver already knew,” Grondelski said. “and slavery continues, in various forms under different names, today. Our own society, too, can be blind to its moral failings: I am certain there will be a day when people look back on the 20th and 21st century to ask, ‘How could they believe killing their unborn babies was a ‘human right?’ Perhaps we still have something to learn from Peter Claver: about persistence in our time and patience in God’s.”