Bl. Benedict Daswa

Patron Saint of Teachers, Principals, and Against Witchcraft

Bl. Benedict Daswa was a teacher and principal in South Africa in the second half of the twentieth century. When he was seventeen, he converted to Catholicism and then became active in the Church community in South Africa. He was a schoolteacher and eventually became a principal. In this role, he focused on being involved in the community and helping his students learn both inside and outside of the classroom. He was killed when he was only forty-three after he refused to pay a tax for a local group believing in magic. Pope Francis confirmed his martyrdom in 2015.