BL. AUGUSTO RAFAEL RAMIREZ MONASTERIO, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 7 NOVEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 7th of November

WELCOME!

 BLESSED AUGUSTO RAFAEL RAMIREZ MONASTERIO, PRIEST AND MARTYR

Blessed Augusto Rafael Ramirez Monasterio

 Franciscan Father Augusto Rafael Ramirez Monasterio, born in Guatemala City on November 5, 1937, was killed there in odium fidei (hatred of the faith) on November 7, 1983, during the country’s civil war.

The martyrdom of the Father Augusto was part of the climate of violence that was established in Guatemala during the years of military rule and the consequent civil war. Since 1978, Father Augusto had been parish priest and guardian in San Francisco el Grande in the city of Antigua, Guatemala. By preaching and example he bore witness to the Gospel and the liberating power of faith. Father Augusto promoted truth and justice and was in solidarity with the poor and oppressed. By his example, he encouraged the faithful to follow Christ closely.

The pretext for eliminating him presented itself in June 1983 when, in the exercise of the ministry of confession, he welcomed a peasant, Fidel Coroy, who was a catechist and who also had ties to the guerrillas. Fidel had been seeking to take advantage of a government amnesty to regularize his status with the authorities. Father Augusto accompanied him to the police, where both were arrested and abducted. 

Father Augusto was then falsely accused of being himself a sympathiser of the left, whilst in reality he had always kept himself out of politics, and never preached anything but Christ and the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

Both were taken to a military base and tortured, with the priest singled out in an attempt to get him to break the Seal of the Confessional. Remaining steadfast, Father Augusto was eventually released. Faithful to his ministry, he did not desert his flock, but courageously remained at his post, without accepting the suggestions of those who proposed that he leave the country for his own safety.

Later, Father Augusto was again abducted and, while trying to escape the vehicle they were forcibly transporting him with, he was shot and killed.

Father Augusto was beatified in Antigua, Guatemala, on November 7, 2026, by Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega, Archbishop of Guadalajara, presided at the Mass on behalf of Pope Leo XIV.

For Father Augusto, the Cardinal said, defending the seal of the sacrament of confession (reconciliation) meant "defending the dignity of every person and ensuring that sinners could always find a safe refuge in which to rebuild their lives."

PRAYER:

May the intercession of Blessed Augusto commend us to you, so that through his merits we may obtain that which we cannot accomplish by our own. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources: - https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2026-11/franciscan-martyr-ramirez-monasterio-beatified-guatemala.html - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Rafael_Ram%C3%ADrez_Monasterio - https://ofm.org/en/venerable-augusto-rafael-ramirez-monasterio-ofm.html