Pedro de Calatayud

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Pedro de Calatayud SJ (August 1, 1689 – February 27, 1773) was a Spanish Jesuit preacher and writer. Born in Tafalla, he studied in Pamplona and at Alcalá and Salamanca. He taught rhetoric and philosophy at the Jesuit college in Medina del Campo, and Sacred Scripture at the University of Valladolid from 1725 to 1728. Beginning in 1733, he traveled across Spain on missions to promote devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He described his sermon method as gentle and persuasive, using reasoning to touch the heart, with a final section that includes warnings and calls to reform. In 1767, at about 77 years old, he left Spain when the Jesuits were expelled. Calatayud was a prolific writer, with 39 published works and hundreds of manuscripts; the exact number varies by source, with figures ranging from about 114 to 295. Many of his sermons quoted other authors. He was praised by José Petisco and Benito Jerónimo Feijoo. He died in Bologna in 1773.