CARABANTES, JOSÉ DE

Spanish Capuchin missionary; b. June 27, 1628; d. April 11, 1694. He entered the order on Oct. 11, 1645, and was ordained on Sept. 21, 1652. In 1657 he went to the missions in Venezuela, and in 1660 he went into the interior to catechise the Native Americans there. After nine years of intense and effective work, he returned to Spain to report to the Council of the Indies about the mission and the Native Americans. A year later he personally presented to the Pope the submission of five caciques, written in the Chaima language. Unable to return to his favorite field of missions among the pagans, he dedicated the rest of his days to preaching the gospel in Spain, working great wonders and accomplishing many spiritual rejuvenations, which gained him the title of Apostle of Galicia. He was also a successful writer, publishing books for spiritual reading and many volumes of sermons, homilies, and instructions. Of particular importance is Práctica de las misiones (2 v. León-Madrid 1674–78), from which modern missiologists have taken methods for the conversion of the native peoples. Also attributed to him is Arte y vocabulario de la lengua de los caribes de Nueva Andaluc'a. In 1666 in Seville he published an account of his missionary work in Venezuela. He died with a reputation of sanctity, and a movement for his beatification began in 1729. The cause was introduced in 1910, and in 1920 the apostolic processes began.

Bibliography: a. de valencina, Vida del V. P. José de Carbantes (Seville 1908). p. m. de mondreganes, Problemas misionales (Madrid 1960). b. de carrocera, Los primeros historiadores de las misiones capuchinas en Venezuela (Caracas 1964).

[i. de villapadierna]