CNA Newsroom, 16 February 2023, 8:00 a.m. (CNA).
The Diocese of La Rioja in Argentina and the family of Blessed Wenceslao Pedernera, one of the four Martyrs of Rioja, have announced that they will be plaintiffs in the case involving Pedernera’s murder in a trial for crimes against humanity committed by the country’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship.
A member of the military forces is identified as the intellectual author of the crime.
The public hearings to establish the details of the crime that occurred on July 25, 1976, will commence on March 10.
The proceedings will be held in the courtroom of the La Rioja Federal Court, presided over by Judge José Camilo Quiroga Uriburu, who will be accompanied by Judges Mario Martnez and Juan Carlos Raynaga.
Together with the Pedernera family, the diocese is participating in the proceedings as a private complaint through their attorneys, Drs. Mirta Sánchez and Pablo Ramiro Fresneda, according to a statement from the diocese.
The bishop also prayed, “May our good God enlighten those who will participate in this trial so that, after so many years, the truth and justice of this heinous crime may be revealed.”
The diocese remarked, “May they pave the way for forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace, for which Blessed Wenceslaus worked and gave his life.”
Wenceslao Pedernera
Blessed Wenceslao Pedernera was born in La Calera, San Luis Province, on September 28, 1936. From at an early age, he assisted his parents with farmwork.
He then relocated to Mendoza, where he worked as a vineyard laborer. There, he met his wife Marta Ramona Cornejo. The couple was parents to three daughters.
Pedernera began to actively participate in the Catholic Church, joining the Rural Movement of Catholic Action Argentina in the Cuyo region after being encouraged by his wife. Afterwards, he engaged in the pastoral work of Enrique Angelelli, bishop of La Rioja, and moved to Saogasta in 1972.
According to the diocese, the layman was killed down in front of his wife and daughters by an Army task team. He died hours later at the Chilecito hospital. His final request to his family was to refrain from hatred.”
Pope Francis formally recognized the cause of his death as “martyrdom in hatred of the faith,” the same as that of the three martyrs from La Rioja: Bishop Enrique Angelelli, priests Gabriel Longueville and Carlos de Dios Murias, who were murdered during the last Argentine military dictatorship.
Pedernera became a saint on March 27, 2019. His holiday is July 17th.
This item was originally published by CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, ACI Prensa. CNA has translated and altered the document.
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