ALCOBER FIGUERA, JUAN TOMAS, ST.

Dominican priest, martyr; b. Dec. 21, 1694, Girone (Granada), Andalucia, Spain; d. Oct. 28, 1748, Fukien (Fuzhou), Tunkien, China.

Juan Alcober joined the Dominicans in his home-town (1708) and was ordained priest (1718). He and St. Francis Serrano had planned to work together in the Chinese missions, but Fr. Alcober was delayed in Lorca, where he preached until he was able to set sail. Having gained a reputation as a popular preacher there, only a miracle reminded him of his original purpose. In 1726, he left for the Philippines to study Chinese and work in Binondo until beginning his mission in China in 1728.

Following the publication of a libel against the Christians of Fu-ngan, Fu-kien, Emperor K'ien Lung initiated a prosecution in 1746. Like Fr. Serrano, Alcober was adept at evading the pursuing authorities. He hid in the homes of native Christians, spent a night hiding in a tree, and wandered about the city in the disguise of a water seller. His luck ran out on June 26, 1746.

He baptized a woman, to whom the Blessed Virgin had appeared in an apparition, on her deathbed. The situation drew her neighbors, and soon Fr. Alcober was recognized, captured, and imprisoned at Fukien. He was sentenced to death by the viceroy on Nov. 1, 1746.

Alcober was strangled one night in his prison cell together with Joachim Royo Pérez, Francisco Diaz, and Francisco Serrano to prevent them from converting their jailors. Local Christians collected and preserved their relics.

He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII (May 14, 1893) and canonized (Oct. 1, 2000) by Pope John Paul II with Augustine Zhao Rong and companions.

Feast: June 5.

See Also: china, martyrs of, ss.

Bibliography: m. j. savignol, Les Martyrs dominicains de la Chine au XVIII ^esiècle (Paris 1893). h. i. iweins, Le Bl. Pierre Sanz et ses quatre compagnons (Ostende 1893). j. m. gonzÁlez, Misiones dominicanas en China, 1700–1750 (Madrid 1952). m. j. dorcy, Saint Dominic's Family (Dubuque, Iowa 1963), 484–87.

[k. i. rabenstein]