page_title: Joseph of Anchieta
section_title: Veneration
hierarchical_section_title: Joseph of Anchieta / Legacy / Veneration
caption_attribution_description: Español: Escultura Padre Anchieta
context_page_description: Saint José de Anchieta y Díaz de Clavijo, S.J. was a Spanish Jesuit missionary to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in the second half of the 16th century. A highly influential figure in Brazil's history in the first century after its European discovery, Anchieta was one of the founders of São Paulo in 1554 and of Rio de Janeiro in 1565. He is the first playwright, the first grammarian and the first poet born in the Canary Islands, and the father of Brazilian literature. Anchieta was also involved in the religious instruction and conversion to the Catholic faith of the Indian population. His efforts along with those of another Jesuit missionary, Manuel da Nóbrega, at Indian pacification were crucial to the establishment of stable colonial settlements in the colony.
  With his book Arte de gramática da língua mais usada na costa do Brasil, Anchieta became the first person to provide an orthography to the Old Tupi language most commonly spoken by the indigenous people of Brazil.
  Anchieta is commonly known as "the Apostle of Brazil". He was canonized by Pope Francis on 3 April 2014.
context_section_description: When beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980, Anchieta acquired the title "Blessed José de Anchieta." Pope Francis announced his canonization as a saint on 3 April 2014. The announcement was first communicated to three priests from the Canary Islands (hometown of Anchieta) who attended the Mass of the Pope in his residence in Santa Marta, who communicated it to the Bishop of Tenerife, Bernardo Álvarez Afonso.
  He used a process known as equivalent canonization that dispenses with the standard judicial procedures and ceremonies in the case of someone long venerated. Anchieta was the first Spaniard canonized by Pope Francis.
  During and after his life, José de Anchieta was considered almost a supernatural being. Many legends formed around him, such as that he once preached to and calmed an attacking jaguar. To this day, a popular devotion holds that praying to Anchieta protects against animal attacks.
  José de Anchieta is highly revered in the Canary Islands. A bronze statue by Brazilian artist Bruno Giorgi in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna depicts José de Anchieta departing for Portugal. It was a gift from the Government of Brazil to Anchieta's hometown, where a wooden image of him is also venerated in the Cathedral of La Laguna and carried in procession through the streets every 9 June. In the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria (patron saint of the Canary Islands), there is a painting of José de Anchieta founding the city of São Paulo. In 1997, a biographical comic book was published.
caption: Monument to José de Anchieta in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "3267", "Image ImageLength": "4575", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 60D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2014:03:11 12:08:47", "Image Artist": "Christian Koppchen", "Image Copyright": "Christian K\u00f6ppchen", "Image ExifOffset": "340", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1038", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5941", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "9", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:03:11 09:30:56", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:03:11 09:30:56", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "870723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "126797/20000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "2/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "4294967295", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "85", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "54", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "54", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3267", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4575", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Bracket", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "0580315357", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[17, 85, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000d1bbee"}