St. Toribio was born in Mayorga, Spain. He became a lawyer and then a professor in Salamanca. He was a lay-person but the king appointed him as archbishop in Peru after the Inquisition in Granada. He was ordained and 2 years later consecrated as archbishop in 1581.

He began reforming the archdiocese as archbishop. He had a great zeal to defend the rights of the Indians and the poor. He learned how to speak fluently many Indian dialects.  During his time as archbishop, he founded schools, hospitals, churches and the first American seminary in Peru. He baptized and confirmed about a half million people including many saints and blessed men and women of the Church today. He was canonized a saint in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII. 


Sources:
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2357
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14781a.htm

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