La Rioja – With the 50th anniversary of the martyrdom of the four blesseds of La Rioja just a month away, the entire population is preparing to commemorate Bishop Enrique Angelelli, priests Carlos de Dios Murias and Gabriel Longueville, and layman, husband, and Father Wenceslao Pedernera, who gave their lives for the Gospel and for their brothers and sisters. During the period of the military regime, although they sought the common good, they were considered suspects and murdered. “The Church proclaimed them blessed in 2019, and this year, on the 50th anniversary of their martyrdom, we celebrate them by giving thanks for their lives dedicated to the service of others,” Bishop Dante Braida of the Diocese of La Rioja wrote to Fides.
The four Blesseds will be commemorated in various events taking place from July 17 to August 2, 2026. Among them, a Mass will be celebrated on July 17 in the Cathedral of La Rioja, dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Bari, followed by other celebrations in the places where these exemplary figures lost their lives violently.
In January 2026, Bishop Braida announced the opening of the diocesan Jubilee for the 50th anniversary of their martyrdom .
Brief biographies of the four blesseds from La Rioja are presented below.
Bishop Enrique Ángel Angelelli was born in Córdoba, Argentina, on July 17, 1923, and was ordained a priest in Rome on October 9, 1949. In 1951, he obtained a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Upon returning to his hometown of Córdoba in September 1951, he served as assistant vicar at the parish of San José in the Alto Alberdi neighborhood, also assisting the sick at the Hospital Clínicas. He was appointed assistant Secretary of the Archbishop’s Curia. In December 1960, he was appointed titular bishop of Listra and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Córdoba. Faced with the suffering and misery resulting from social injustices, he became a voice, in his homilies and public appearances, for solidarity campaigns to alleviate hunger and abandonment among the needy. During one of his episcopal activities, when invited to bless homes for workers at the Malagueño lime quarries, he emphasized to both employers and workers the value of commitment to “the suffering Christ incarnate in the workers,” and chose to have lunch with them instead of in the area reserved for the employers. A longtime supporter of the work of priests and nuns committed to the poor, he participated in the debates of the Second Vatican Council in Rome, where in 1965, along with 42 other bishops, he signed the “Pact of the Catacombs,” promoting a Church at the service of the poor. At the age of 45, on August 24, 1968, he assumed leadership of the Diocese of La Rioja. Valuing local history and culture, he strengthened popular piety, promoted the formation of peasant cooperatives, and encouraged the unionization of rural laborers, miners, and domestic workers. The persecution of the Church in La Rioja intensified after the establishment of the military dictatorship in March 1976, with harassment and arrests of priests, nuns, and laypeople, and even torture. The bishop was advised to leave La Rioja, but he refused, stating, “That’s precisely what they want, for me to leave so the sheep will scatter.” On August 4, 1976, Bishop Angelelli was murdered near Punta de Los Llanos while returning from Chamical to La Rioja. The court determined that the bishop’s death was a “premeditated, cold-blooded homicide, foreseen by the victim.” The investigations were suspended until their definitive reopening in 2006, which culminated in the conviction of some of those responsible in 2014.
Father Carlos de Dios Murias was born in the province of Córdoba on October 10, 1945. He was ordained a priest in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1972, by the Bishop of La Rioja, Enrique Angelelli, whom he had known since adolescence. In 1976, he was permanently assigned to pastoral service in the Diocese of La Rioja, where Bishop Angelelli appointed him assistant vicar of the parish of “El Salvador” in Chamical, alongside the French priest, Father Gabriel Longueville, who had arrived in that community in 1971. In his homilies, he denounced various injustices in Chamical, such as the precarious living conditions of the peasants, who received very low wages for their work. During the military dictatorship, Father Carlos continued preaching with firm conviction, fervently denouncing the injustices of that era. He was known for his courage in defending the poorest; he raised his voice forcefully and fearlessly in favor of the marginalized. After receiving threats, he stated in a homily: “They can silence the voice of this priest. They can silence the voice of the bishop, but they will never be able to silence the voice of the Gospel.” On the night of July 18, 1976, Father Carlos and Father Gabriel were having dinner at the Sisters of St. Joseph’s house when some unknown men arrived, carrying identification, claiming to be agents of the Federal Police. They asked Father Carlos to accompany them to the city of La Rioja under the pretext of testifying on behalf of some detainees from Chamical. Father Gabriel refused to let him go alone and said, “I’ll go with you.” However, instead of being taken to the capital, they were taken along National Route 38, 8 km from Chamical, where they were tortured and then riddled with bullets. Their bodies were found two days later by railway workers. Father Carlos was 30 years old and Father Gabriel was 45 when they were murdered.
Father Gabriel Longueville was born on March 18, 1931, in Étables, a small town in the Ardèche region of southern France. From a young age, he expressed his priestly vocation and in 1948 entered the major seminary in Viviers. In 1952, his formation was interrupted by the call to arms during the French colonial war against the Algerians who were fighting for independence. This harsh experience marked him deeply. In 1956, he returned to the seminary to complete his priestly formation and was ordained a priest on July 23, 1957. In 1968, he decided to respond to the call of Pope Pius XII, who in the encyclical Fidei Donum encouraged diocesan priests to commit themselves to missionary work in countries where the gift of faith was to be spread. On February 1, 1970, he arrived in Argentina, specifically in the Archdiocese of Corrientes, although he had previously spent three months in Cuernavaca, Mexico. In 1971, by mutual agreement with the Argentine head of the Episcopal Committee for France and Latin America, he moved to the Diocese of La Rioja, where he joined Bishop Angelelli’s pastoral project. On May 7, 1971, he was appointed vicar of the parish of El Salvador in Chamical, La Rioja. The locals remember him as a simple, kind, and helpful man who visited his neighbors by bicycle, especially the poorest, which made him very beloved by all. As parish priest, he dedicated himself to getting to know the entire community, exploring every corner of the parish. On the night of July 18, 1976, Father Gabriel wanted to accompany his friend Father Carlos, who had been taken by unknown men claiming to be from the Federal Police, under the pretext of taking him to La Rioja to testify on behalf of some detainees from Chamical. Their bodies were found two days later in the Bajo de Lucas area, 8 km from the parish church, where they had been murdered. It is important to emphasize Father Gabriel’s missionary spirit, which led him to leave his homeland to serve as a priest in places where there were very few. He was a man of profound dedication, constantly committed to his mission. He knew very well what was happening that night of July 18; he was fully aware of the situation. They had already received threats, and from the bottom of his heart, he firmly declared, “I am with you,” according to the nuns who had hosted him for dinner that night, the night he was murdered along with his friend, Father Carlos.
Wenceslao Pedernera was born on September 28, 1936, in the province of San Luis. In 1961, he settled in Mendoza, where he worked as a day laborer on the “Gargantini” vineyards. Married and a father, in 1968 he became involved with the Church during the novena to Our Lady of Carrodilla. In 1972, along with his wife Ramona Cornejo, he participated in two formation courses in the Diocese of La Rioja. Thanks to his commitment and availability, at the end of 1973 he was appointed coordinator of the Catholic Action Rural Movement in Argentina for the Cuyo region. In 1974, they joined the community project “La Buena Estrella”, until Bishop Angelelli asked them to leave for security reasons. He moved with his family to a plot of land near the parish of Our Lady of Candelaria in Sañogasta. He and his wife served as catechists in “La Puntilla,” on the outskirts of Sañogasta, and collected clothing to distribute to those in need. Wenceslao continued to collaborate with the residents of Sañogasta; he was a great promoter of cooperative work among the farmers, teaching them how to plow, sow, dig irrigation canals, and harvest. He sought to put the Gospel message into practice by prioritizing the most vulnerable and committed himself to defending the rights of rural workers who, in his time, suffered exploitation at the hands of landowners. These landowners paid their laborers meager wages, very little money, and sometimes only a small portion of the harvest after long days of work. During the military dictatorship in Argentina, those who supported cooperatives were labeled as subversives, and for this reason, Wenceslao and his wife received threats that materialized in the early hours of the morning of
On July 25, 1976, someone knocked on his door. His wife, frightened, begged him not to open it, to which Wenceslao replied that it might be someone who needed help. He opened the door, and four hooded men shot him in front of his wife and daughters. Eyewitnesses recounted that among his last words to his daughters were: “Do not hate, forgive.”
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