Ezequiel Moreno y Díaz

In 1888, Ezequiel Moreno was sent to Colombia to revive and reorganize the ancient Augustinian Recollect province of La Candelaria, which had been severely tested by the secularizations of the 19th century. There, he dedicated himself to the restoration of religious life and missionary activity. The Holy See established the Apostolic Vicariate of Casanare, a vast region of eastern plains, and entrusted it to Moreno, who was consecrated titular Bishop of Pinara in 1894. Shortly thereafter, he was transferred to the see of Pasto, in the south of the country; according to sources, he took possession of the diocese around 1895-1896 and governed it until his death. His episcopate coincided with a period of intense political and religious tension in Colombia, marked by the Thousand Days' War (1899-1902). An uncompromising defender of the rights of the Church against the anticlerical liberalism of his time, he took firm doctrinal positions that sparked numerous controversies. A demanding and zealous pastor, he tirelessly visited his diocese, supported the clergy and the poor, and raised his voice to denounce the injustices suffered by his diocesans.

The entire life of Ezequiel Moreno is marked by a rigorous fidelity to the religious rule, by personal austerity, and by a particular devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Virgin of the Rosary, whose name he had taken in religion. His biographers describe a man of prayer, attached to poverty, animated by an apostolic zeal that drove him successively to the missions of the Philippines and then of Colombia. His doctrinal intransigence, which made him a contested figure during his lifetime, was rooted in a deep conviction of faith rather than in political calculations. It was above all in the trial of his illness that his spiritual journey was manifested: afflicted with cancer of the palate and nasal passages that appeared around 1905, he endured long and cruel sufferings which he offered with resignation and abandonment to God. Tradition attributes to him, during this trial, words of loving acceptance of suffering, a sign of a trusting union with the crucified Christ that would later nourish his reputation for holiness.

The reputation of holiness of Ezequiel Moreno spread rapidly after his death in 1906, both in Colombia and in Spain. His cause for beatification and canonization followed its course with the Holy See. Pope Paul VI proclaimed him blessed on November 1, 1975, on the feast of All Saints. Pope John Paul II canonized him on October 11, 1992, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, during the celebrations of the fifth centenary of the evangelization of the Americas, a context that highlighted his stature as a missionary between Europe and the New World. His liturgical feast is set for August 19, the anniversary of his death. Due to the illness that took him, borne with exemplary patience, he is widely invoked as an intercessor for those suffering from cancer, particularly cancers of the throat and palate—a popular devotion that has spread well beyond Spain and Colombia.

Saint Ezequiel Moreno remains one of the great figures of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, who honor him as a model of missionary and religious life; one of their provinces bears his name. His body rests at the convent of Monteagudo, in Navarre, the place of his entry into religious life and his death, which has become a sanctuary that attracts pilgrims. His memory is particularly vivid in Colombia, especially in the diocese of Pasto which he governed, where he remains venerated as a pastor close to the poor. Throughout the 20th century, his figure established itself above all in popular piety as that of the protector of people suffering from cancer, and many faithful invoke him to obtain healing or comfort in illness. Beyond the controversies that marked his episcopate, the Church has retained from him the testimony of an unwavering faith and an offered suffering, making this Spanish missionary a saint shared between two continents.