Oro, Justo Santa María de (1772–1836)

Justo Santa María de Oro (b. 3 September 1772; d. 19 October 1836), Dominican priest, patriot, first bishop of Cuyo. In 1789 Oro, a native of San Juan, Argentina, entered the Dominican order. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1794 and went to Spain in 1809 for further studies and to get permission to establish schools in Argentina. The next year, after the May Revolution broke out, he returned and worked with José de San Martín in the formation of the Army of the Andes. Oro was a member of the Congress of Tucumán and adamantly opposed any form of monarchy that did not have the approval of the people. He supported the Chilean independence movement under Bernardo O'Higgins. In 1818 he was made superior of the Dominicans in Chile. Oro was sent to Juan Fernández Island in 1825 because of his suspected involvement in a movement against the government of General Freire. Permitted to leave Chile in 1828, he returned to San Juan, Argentina, where he was named apostolic vicar by Pope Leo XII. In 1834, he was named bishop of the newly formed diocese of Cuyo.

See alsoCuyo; Dominicans; San Martín, José Francisco de.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Antonio B. Toledo, Las ideas republicanas de fray Justo Sant Maria de Oro (1926); Emilio Maurin Navarro, Fray Justo de Santa María de Oro (1960); and Forjadores de la República (1967).

Additional Bibliography

Carril Quiroga, Pablo Alberto del. El corazón de fray Justo de Santa María de Oro y otros temas conexos. San Juan: Academia Provincial de la Historia, 1971.

                                    Nicholas P. Cushner