Avendaño, Diego de

AVENDAÑO, DIEGO de. - Jesuit theologian and canonist, b. at Segovia (Spain) in 1594, d. at Lima (Peru) on 31 Aug. 1688. After studying philosophy at Seville, he went to Peru in 1609 with the famous jurist Solorzano Pereira and entered the Society of Jesus at Lima in 1612. Having completed his studies in theology, he taught rhetoric and humanities at Lima, philosophy at Cuzco, theology at the University of Chuquisaca (today Sucre) and at the Colegio Máximo de San Pablo in Lima. Then assigned to governance, he was rector at Chuquisaca, vice-rector at Cuzco, rector of the Colegio Máximo of Lima, vice-provincial (1661) and provincial (1663) of the Jesuits in Peru, and again rector in two houses of Lima, until 1672. He was then able to devote himself to the preparation of his works, until old age stopped him (1685).

He wrote: Epithalamium Christi et Sacrae Sponsae, seu explanatio Psalmi XLIV, Lyon 1663; Amphitheatrum misericordiae seu expositio Psalmi LXXXVIII, Lyon 1666; Problemata theologica, 2 vols., Antwerp 1668. But his principal work is the Thesaurus indicus, seu generalis instructor pro regimine conscientiae in iis quae ad Indias spectant, 6 vols., Antwerp 1668-86 (vols. III-VI are the "auctaria"); vol. VI is sometimes separated under the title: Cursus consummatus. The work somewhat lacks an organic plan and at times precision, but its merit is that it applied the general principles of Catholic morality and canon law to the particular cases of the West Indies; it has been described as "an encyclopedia for missionary pastoral care and for missionary and colonial law" (Streit). A. left other manuscript works, such as the Litterae annuae of the Jesuit Province of Peru for the years 1662-65, necrological records on several Jesuits, and a treatise Mysterium Fidei.

Edmondo Lamalle