Peter González
Spanish Dominican friar and priest
Feast: 15 April (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Peter González, popularly St Elmo, was educated by his uncle, Bishop of Astorga, and became a Dominican and renowned preacher whose sermons brought countless conversions.
He accompanied King Ferdinand III on campaign, but his wish was to preach to the poor; he spent the rest of his life teaching the ignorant and the sailors of Galicia. He died at Tuy on 15 April 1246.
The miracles
Despite the popular title of Saint, he was never formally canonised; Pope Benedict XIV confirmed the honour paid to him in 1741.
Why that counted as sanctity
A preacher who gave his life to the poor and to sailors.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Blessed Peter Gonzalez
- Wikidata Q2715632 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Peter González (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.