John the Baptist Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Americas==== Saint John the Baptist is the [[patron saint]] of the [[Commonwealth of Puerto Rico]] and its capital city, [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]]. In 1521, the island was given its formal name, {{lang|es|"San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico"}}, following the custom of christening a town with its formal name and the name which [[Christopher Columbus]] had originally given the island. The names {{lang|es|"San Juan Bautista"}} and {{lang|es|"Puerto Rico"}} were eventually used in reference to both city and island, leading to a reversal in terminology by most inhabitants largely due to a [[Cartography|cartographic]] error. By 1746, the city's name ({{lang|es|"Puerto Rico"}}) had become that of the entire island, while the name for the island ({{lang|es|"San Juan Bautista"}}) had become that of the city. The [[List of U.S. state mottos|official motto]] of Puerto Rico also references the saint: {{lang|la|Joannes Est Nomen Eius}}.<ref>[[Latin language|Latin]] for "his name is John", from Luke 1:63. {{bibleverse|Luke|1:63}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sobre Nosotros |url=https://www.statedepartment.pr.gov/department-of-state |url-status=live |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Department of State |publisher=Puerto Rico Department of State}}</ref> He is also a patron saint of [[French Canada]] and [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]]. The Canadian cities of [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's, Newfoundland]] (1497), [[Saint John, New Brunswick]] (1604), and [[Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu|Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec]] (1665), were all named in his honor. His feast day of 24 June is celebrated officially in [[Quebec]] as the {{lang|fr|[[Fête Nationale du Québec]]}} and was previously celebrated in Newfoundland as [[Discovery Day]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=18 June 2020|title=N.L. ditches 'Discovery Day' holiday criticized for erasing Indigenous presence|url=https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/n-l-ditches-discovery-day-holiday-criticized-for-erasing-indigenous-presence-1.4990440|access-date=10 August 2021|website=Atlantic|language=en|archive-date=10 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810135133/https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/n-l-ditches-discovery-day-holiday-criticized-for-erasing-indigenous-presence-1.4990440|url-status=live}}</ref> He is also patron of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston]], which covers the whole of [[South Carolina]] in the [[United States]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 May 2003|title=Diocesan patron, St. John the Baptist, a minister of joy and mercy|url=https://themiscellany.org/2003/05/01/diocesan-patron-st-john-the-baptist-a-minister-of-joy-and-mercy/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808082119/https://themiscellany.org/2003/05/01/diocesan-patron-st-john-the-baptist-a-minister-of-joy-and-mercy/|archive-date=8 August 2020|access-date=13 December 2020|website=The Catholic Miscellany|publisher=Diocese of Charleston|language=en-US}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page