Cuenca, Spain
On May 7, 1568, at the age of nineteen, upon completion of a degree of Bachelor of Philosophy from the University of Alcalá, Jerome entered the Society of Jesus. He spent the following years studying philosophy and theology before being ordained priest in 1575. After ordination he spent a number of years teaching "elementary subjects" in Villarejo de Fuentes in Cuenca, Spain, before being sent east, arriving in Goa in September 1581.