Turibius of Astorga

Who is Turibius of Astorga?

Saint Turibius of Astorga was an archdeacon of Tuy and an early Bishop of Astorga. Turibius was a zealous maintainer of ecclesiastical discipline, and defender of the Nicene Christianity against the Galician heresy of Priscillianism, for which he received a supportive letter from Leo the Great, which still survives.

Turibius held a local synod in 446. After his death at Astorga in 460 he was revered as a saint. According to tradition, his relics, along with a piece of the lignum crucis, were transferred to the Monastery of Liébana around the middle of the eighth century. His feast day is April 16 in the Roman Catholic Church. He is usually portrayed with a mitre and is not to be confused with Turibius of Liébana.