At the age of 68, the holy archbishop fell ill and died on Holy Thursday, March 23, 1606. Centuries later, in 1983, Pope Saint John Paul II would declare him Patron of the Latin American Episcopate.
“Peru, holy land” (Pope Francis)
Santo Toribio coincided in time and place with great saints (between the second half of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century): Santa Rosa de Lima, San Martín de Porres, San Juan Macías and San Francisco Solano – the last two, the same than him, born in Spain. He treated and knew all of them; and even, as was the case of San Francisco Solano, he was united by a certain friendship. A separate note, of great symbolism, was the fact that Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo confirmed Santa Rosa de Lima, patron saint of America and the Philippines.
Details like these refer us to a social context in which Christ occupied the central place, a world that produced the first outbreak of holiness in America. That was a time when in Lima, the City of Kings, there was an air of fervor, mystique and desire for holiness. Therefore, it is important to go back and learn about this stage in the history of the Church and appreciate how the roots of the Evangelization of America were established. This should be an inspiration for a continent that suffers different forms of poverty and misery, as well as the onslaught of ideologies. America must flourish again.