This week in Christian history: Spanish Jesuits in Va., Christian and Missionary Alliance founder ordained, justice statement

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, September 06, 2020

Jesuit missionaries arrive in Virginia — September 10, 1570

A seventeenth century engraving depicting the martyrdom of Jesuit missionary Juan Baptista de Segura and his companions in modern day Virginia in February 8, 1571. | Internet Archive

This week marks the anniversary of when Catholic priest Juan Baptista de Segura arrived with a group of Jesuits in Chesapeake Bay in the modern day Commonwealth of Virginia.

A native of Spain who joined the Society of Jesus in 1556, Segura successfully pressured Florida Governor Pedro Menéndez de Avilés to allow him to travel to the area, called “Ajacán.”

“A letter from Segura and Quirós to a Spanish official in Cuba, dated September 12, suggests that they were well-received by the Indians despite the effects of a long and devastating drought,” noted the Encyclopedia Virginia.

Despite the initial welcome, months later Segura and his fellow Jesuits were massacred by a group of Native Americans led by a former guide for the Spanish explorers.