Pope Leo To Beatify Guatemalan 'Patron Saint Of The Seal Of Confession'

On January 22, Pope Leo XIV approved the decree recognizing the martyrdom of the Servant of God Augusto Ramírez Monasterio, a Franciscan priest murdered in Guatemala in 1983, and the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Maria Ignazia Isacchi, founder of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Asola, Italy.

The National Catholic Register reported a full account of his martyrdom and process of beatification here. 

Friar Augusto Ramírez was last seen trying to escape his killers on one of the busiest streets in downtown Guatemala City. With his hands tied, he cried out for help as he dodged oncoming traffic. His desperate efforts were in vain: he was shot eight times.

The future blessed thus joined the long list of priests murdered—apparently at the hands of Guatemalan security forces—during the civil war that lasted more than three decades, pitting official security forces against the Catholic clergy, Marxist guerrillas, political dissidents, and the poor.

His murder was the culmination of months of persecution, death threats, and torture for refusing to break the seal of confession after hearing the confession of Fidel Coroy, a member of the Kaqchikel Maya people, a catechist, and a recognized figure in peasant organizations such as the Peasant Unity Committee and the Guerrilla Army of the Poor.

Accounts following Fray Augusto's murder showed that he had been tortured by his military captors, who stripped him naked and hung him by his wrists, beating and burning him and breaking several of his ribs.
On January 22, Pope Leo XIV approved the decree recognizing the martyrdom of the Servant of God Augusto Ramírez Monasterio, a Franciscan priest murdered in Guatemala in 1983, and the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Maria Ignazia Isacchi, founder of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Asola, Italy.

Friar Augusto Ramírez was last seen trying to escape his killers on one of the busiest streets in downtown Guatemala City. With his hands tied, he cried out for help as he dodged oncoming traffic. His desperate efforts were in vain: he was shot eight times.

He thus joined the long list of priests murdered—apparently at the hands of Guatemalan security forces—during the civil war that lasted more than three decades, pitting official security forces against the Catholic clergy, Marxist guerrillas, political dissidents, and the poor.

His murder was the culmination of months of persecution, death threats, and torture for refusing to break the seal of confession after hearing the confession of Fidel Coroy, a member of the Kaqchikel Maya people, a catechist, and a recognized figure in peasant organizations such as the Peasant Unity Committee and the Guerrilla Army of the Poor.

Accounts following Fray Augusto's murder showed that he had been tortured by his military captors, who stripped him naked and hung him by his wrists, beating and burning him and breaking several of his ribs.

The perpetrators of the murder were never brought to justice, as is the case of thousands of other extrajudicial killings committed during the decades-long conflict. Another prominent member of the Catholic Church who was murdered during that time was Bishop Juan Gerardi. A 1999 report by the U.S. Department of State found that approximately 93% of the extrajudicial killings were committed by official Guatemalan security forces.

At the time of his death, Fr. Augusto was superior of the Franciscans and pastor of San Francisco el Grande in the city of Antigua, known for its colonial churches. He was remembered as an exemplary priest and for his service and protection of the poor in Guatemala. He is regarded as a patron saint of the seal of the confessional: which is a canonical rule which forbids Catholic priests from revealing the confessions of penitents.