Ferrer, Rafael
Ferrer, Rafael
A Spanish missionary and explorer; b. at Valencia, in 1570; d. at San José, Peru, in 1611. His father had destined him for a military career, but he entered the Society of Jesus, and in 1593 was sent to Quito, Ecuador. In 1601 he penetrated the territory of the Cofanis, a hostle tribe who had been a source of great trouble to the Spanish Government. Within three years the Indians of several villages were so civilized by the influence of religion that the surrounding country was open to colonists.
In 1605, at the command of the viceroy of Quito, Ferrer went among the. uncivilized tribes of the River Napo. He was well received by the Indians, and on this journey which lasted two and a half years, he travelled 3600 miles into the interior, bringing back with him a chart of the basin of the Napo, a map of the country he had explored, and an herbarium which he presented to the viceroy. He was appointed governor and chief magistrate of the Cofanis, and received the title of “Chief of the Missions of the Cofanis”. After a period of rest at the mission he next journeyed northward from Quito through unexplored forests, and discovered a large lake and the River Pilcomago. In 1610 he returned to his labours among the Indians, bending his energies to the civilization ot the few tribes of the Cofanis who were not yet within the range of his influence. He met his death at the hands of the chief of one of these tribes, whom he had compelled to abandon polygamy. The murderer was slain in turn by his tribesmen, who were enraged on learning of his deed. An extract from Father Ferrer’s account of his explorations was published by Fr. Detré in the “Lettres Edifiantes”, and the same extract was also published by Father Bernard de Bologne in the “Bibliotheca Societatis Jesu”, but the original manuscript was lost and has never been published in its entirety. Besides compiling his “Arte de la Lengua Cofana”, Father Ferrer translated the catechism and selections from the Gospels for every Sunday in the year into the language of the Cofanis.
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BLANCHE M. KELLY Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VICopyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Ferrer, Rafael
a Spanish missionary, was born at Valencia. Having entered the order of the Jesuits, he devoted himself to the preaching of the Gospel in the deserts bordering on the Amazon River. It was in particular, the ferocious and numerous nation of the Cofanes, which had never yet seen a missionary, and which, divided into twenty tribes, occupied a territory about sixty miles from Quito, to which he devoted his labors. The Cofanes had never been subjected to Spanish rule, and had recently destroyed the town of Ecija – and a number of villages. In 1603, after fourteen months of labor, Ferrer succeeded in organizing the mission of San Paulo y San Pedro de los Cofanes. In 1604 two other villages swelled the number of the converted population to 6500. In 1605 Ferrer followed the course of the Aguarico, penetrated into the Napo, and altogether, in the, course of two years and a half, travelled more than 1000 miles, and acquired a better acquaintance with the savage nations in the vicinity of the Amazon than any man of that time. In 1608 he returned to the Cofanes. He then prepared a Grammar of the language of the Cofanes, and translated for them the Catechism. He next undertook a journey to Quito, to induce the authorities to establish new mission-s. His petition having been granted, he again returned to the Cofanes, when his earnest sermons against polygamy cost him his life in 1611, one of the chiefs whom he had compelled to give up his concubines precipitating him from a steep rock.-Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gener. 17:535.