Alonzo Sánchez

Alonso Sánchez (1547 – 27 May 1593) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary, one of the first Jesuits in the Philippines.

Life

Born in Mondéjar, Guadalajara, Spain, he entered the Society of Jesus at Alcalá on 27 May 1565. He was rector of the college of Navalcarnero, taught grammar for five years, and in 1579 went to the mission of Mexico, where he was rector of the seminary.

Early in 1581 he set out for the Philippines with Bishop Domingo de Salazar. Sánchez and his companion, Antonio Sedeno, and a lay brother, were the first Jesuits in these islands. The bishop made Sánchez his consellor, appointed him to write the acts of the synod of Manila, and, when Sánchez was sent on an embassy to China, interrupted the synod until Sánchez had returned.

Twice Sánchez was despatched on official business to China, where he met celebrated Jesuit missionaries of that country and from Japan. He was thus able to publish later an account of the state of Christianity in China at the end of the sixteenth century.