Luis Cáncer

The peninsula had already been ravaged by the expeditions of Pánfilo Narváez and Hernando de Soto and was regarded as very hostile to the Spanish, and Cáncer argued that further violence would never bring about its conversion to Catholicism and submission.Perceiving the possibility of goodwill, the expedition split, with Magdalena, Diego de Tolosa, Brother Fuentes, and an unknown sailor joining the Indians on the half-day's land route, and Cáncer returning to the caravel to meet them at the bay.Beteta and García wanted to flee immediately and sail for the east coast of Florida, but Cáncer refused to leave a land "hallowed by the life blood" of his compatriots.Likewise, in 1918 Cáncer's likeness was installed as part of a large stained glass window at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer (New York) run by the Order of Preachers.[7] In 2015, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints bestowed the title Servant of God on Cáncer and 85 other Native American and Spanish martyrs of Florida,;[8][9] the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has endorsed the cause.
Servant of GodBarbastroCrown of AragonTampa BaySpanish FloridaDominicanmissionaryNew WorldCaribbeanGuatemalaFloridamartyrAragónPuerto RicoHispaniolaBartolomé de las CasasIndiansecclesiasticalMexicoPánfilo NarváezHernando de SotoCharles VVera CruzHavanaTocobagaproto-martyrMartyrs of La FloridaBishop Augustín Verotwest coastSt. Louis ChurchChurch of St. Vincent Ferrer (New York)Order of PreachersDiocese of St. PetersburgSafety Harbor, FloridaCongregation for the Causes of SaintsmartyrsUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishopspublic domainChisholm, HughEncyclopædia BritannicaGannon, Michael V.