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

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.”

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“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.