Claver was born in 1580 into a devoutly Catholic and prosperous farming family in the Spanish village of Verdú,[3] Urgell, located in the Province of Lleida, Spain about 54 miles (87 km) from Barcelona.

After two years of study there, Claver wrote these words in the notebook he kept throughout his life: "I must dedicate myself to the service of God until death, on the understanding that I am like a slave.

[5] Rodriguez felt that he had been told by God that Claver was to spend his life in service in the colonies of New Spain, and he frequently urged the young student to accept that calling.

[6] Required to spend six years studying theology before being ordained a priest, he lived in Jesuit houses at Tunja and Bogotá.

During those preparatory years, he was deeply disturbed by the harsh treatment and living conditions of the black slaves who were brought from Africa.

[7] Cartagena was a slave-trading hub and 10,000 slaves poured into the port yearly, crossing the Atlantic from West Africa under conditions so foul that an estimated one-third died in transit.

After the slaves were herded from the ship and penned in nearby yards to be scrutinized by crowds of buyers, Claver joined them with medicine, food, bread, lemons.

He preached in the city square, to sailors and traders and conducted country missions, returning every spring to visit those he had baptized, ensuring that they were treated humanely.

He lingered for four years, largely forgotten and neglected, physically abused and starved by an ex-slave who had been hired by the Superior of the house to care for him.

[1] The city magistrates, who had previously considered him a nuisance for his persistent advocacy on behalf of the slaves, ordered a public funeral and he was buried with pomp and ceremony.

[3] His body is preserved and venerated in the church of the Jesuit residence, now renamed in his honor as Iglesia de San Pedro Claver.

[31] That said, the sources cited by Grimes' in her criticism stated that Claver allowed uncommon freedom for the slaves he purchased (using them in his ministry rather than for hard labor), and resorted to physical punishment solely to prevent what he saw as immoral behavior.