Innocent, not proven guilty

	St. John of Ávila When: 1499-1569 Where: Spain What: Priest and preacher Feast: May 10 Canonized: 1970 Patron: Spain and diocesan priests

One tenet of American justice is that a person is innocent until proven guilty. Fortunately for St. John of Ávila -- and the church -- the Spanish Inquisition granted him the same rights and he was cleared of the charges filed against him.

This 16th century saint was born to a wealthy family at Almodóvar del Camp, New Catile, Spain.

When he was 14, he was sent to the University of Salamanca to study law, but was more attracted to religion and left to spend the next three years in an austere life of prayer and penance.

Next, he studied theology and philosophy at Alcalà and was ordained to the priesthood in 1525. Soon after, his parents died and he gave his large inheritance to the poor.

John, already well-known as a preacher, wanted to become a missionary in Mexico. Instead, the Bishop of Seville asked him to become a missionary much closer to home -- in the Andalusia region of southern Spain, bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

The region, which includes the cities of Seville, Granada, Córdoba and Malaga (birthplace of Pablo Picasso), had been ruled by the Moors, who are Muslims.

For the next nine years, John preached to large crowds, earning the name, the Apostle to Andalusia. But large crowds sometimes mean enemies, especially when John began denouncing evil in high places.

That led to his arrest by the Inquisition under charges that he had said the rich could not be admitted to heaven. But after an investigation found nothing to the claims, he was dismissed and soon began drawing even larger crowds as he traveled throughout Spain. He served as the spiritual adviser to St. Teresa of Ávila, St. John of the Cross, St. Peter of Alcantara, St. Louis of Granada and St. Ignatius of Loyola. He also converted St. John of God and St. Francis Borgia.

John is credited with converting many people. He wrote numerous letters to them, filled with practical spiritual advice and encouragement. Many of these letters survive. He also wrote several sermons and a treatise on Christian perfection.

He also started more than a dozen schools for the laity and two schools for the clergy.

Despite suffering great pain for the last 15 years of his life, John continued to travel and preach. He had long admired the Jesuits and, at age 59, decided to enter the order. But he found the provincial in Andalusia to be too rigorous and gave up the idea. But the Jesuits considered him to be one of them and had his body buried in the Jesuit church at Montilla.