Saint Peter Claver and the Chains That Still Remain
Slavery didnβt disappearβit only changed form. Today, fifty million people live with hidden chains. They clean houses they donβt own, make clothes they canβt buy, and dig minerals for gadgets they will never use. Meanwhile, the rich spend on pleasures while keeping labor as cheapβalmost freeβas possible.
Centuries ago, the picture was clear and cruel. In the port city of Cartagena, Colombia, slave ships arrived full of men, women, and children. Dragging iron chains and starving, they were pulled out after weeks in the dark. Families were torn apart. Children were branded and sold like objects. Their cries mixed with the voices of buyers counting profit.
Into this walked Father Peter Claver, a Spanish Jesuit priest. He brought food, water, and medicine. He cared for the sick when no one else would. He called the enslaved not property but human beings. He named himself their βslave forever.β He didnβt end the system, but he showed that their lives had value.
In his final years, Father Peter was left weak and sick. Paralysis kept him in bed, and the servant assigned to him treated him harshly and neglected him. The man who had spent his life lifting up the forgotten died almost forgotten himself on September 8, 1654. Yet when he passed, the same city that once ignored him filled the streets to honor him.
On September 9, the Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, we remember him. And in remembering him, we face the truth: slavery never fully ended. The chains look different now, but they still exist.
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