Jacinto Vera y Durán was born in mid-1813 on board a boat on the
Atlantic Ocean to Gerardo Vera and Josefa Durán; the boat had been taking his parents from their place of origin in the
Canary Islands to
Uruguay. The infant was
baptized during a boat stop at Nossa Senhora do Desterro in
Florianópolis in
Brazil. His siblings included his sisters María Teodora and Marianna and his brothers Dionisio Antonio de los Dolores and Francisco who died while in Brazil. From 1813 Vera lived on a leased farm until his parents purchased their own farm in 1819. He made his
First Communion in the chapel of Our Lady of Carmen called Doña Ana and received his
Confirmation around this stage as was the custom of the time. In 1832 he felt the call to the
priesthood and from 1836 to 1841 studied under the
Jesuits (at the Colegio San Ignacio) in
Buenos Aires where he became known for his intelligence as well as for his sharp and cheerful persona. He was elevated into the
diaconate on 28 May 1841 and received his
ordination on 5 June from the
Bishop of Buenos Aires Mariano Medrano y Cabrera. Vera celebrated his first
Mass on 6 June at the church of the Catalinas in Buenos Aires before returning to Uruguay. On 4 October 1859 Vera was appointed as the Vicar Apostolic of Montevideo and he took office on 14 December. He sought renewal among priests and in January 1860 summoned all priests for the
Spiritual Exercises which he wanted to make a regular thing for their own growth as priests. He made a missionary trip from 25 April 1860 to January 1861 across the nation in order to meet with various people, preach and administer. But complications arose in Montevideo which caused him to be exiled to Buenos Aires from 8 October 1862 until 23 August 1863. But he was soon invited to return to his home nation after
Venancio Flores put the offer to him; he was met with a grand welcome upon his return. It was upon his return that the
Acting President Atanasio Aguirre asked
Pope Pius IX to name Vera as a bishop. The pope accepted this recommendation in 1864 when he named Vera as the Titular Bishop of Megara on 22 September which prompted Vera to receive his
episcopal consecration later on 16 July 1865. In 1867 Vera left for
Rome to participate in the XIX centennial of the death of
Saint Peter and went on a long tour of
Italy and
France while also visiting neighbouring
Spain and
Portugal. It was also around this point that he made a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land. In 1869 he set off to Rome again to participate in the
First Vatican Council and was there until the council closed in 1870 with the loss of the
Papal States. From 10 to 17 July 1871 Vera carried out a peace mission between General Timoteo Aparicio and President
Lorenzo Batlle y Grau but this mediation failed and led to the
Revolution of the Lances. Vera supported the return of the Jesuits to the nation who settled in Montevideo on 3 September 1872 while also allowing for the
Salesians of Don Bosco to come into the country with that order arriving on 26 December 1876; Bishop Vera sometimes corresponded with
Saint Giovanni Bosco. Bishop Vera's posting as the vicar apostolic and the titular bishop ended on 15 July 1878 when the new
Pope Leo XIII named him as the first
Bishop of Montevideo after establishing the diocese and dissolving the apostolic vicariate. ==Death==