Mario Vergara

Upon his arrival in Burma at the end of 1934, Father Mario Vergara was welcomed by Msgr. Sagrada, Vicar Apostolic of Toungoo. He immediately dedicated himself to learning the local languages and customs. In 1936, his bishop entrusted him with the mountainous district of Citaciò, inhabited by the Karen ethnic group (Soku tribe). In this poor and isolated region, he deployed intense pastoral and social activity: he provided catechesis, celebrated the sacraments, founded an orphanage welcoming 82 children, and a medical dispensary where he treated the sick free of charge.

In June 1940, Italy's entry into the war against Great Britain disrupted his mission. Considered a national of an enemy country, Father Vergara was arrested by British authorities and interned in concentration camps in India from 1941 to 1944. During this harsh captivity, his health deteriorated severely and he had to undergo several surgical interventions, including the removal of a kidney. Released at the end of 1944, he remained in India as a chaplain for Italian soldiers in Bombay while awaiting his repatriation.

In the autumn of 1946, refusing to renounce his missionary vocation despite his physical weakness, he returned to Burma. Msgr. Alfredo Lanfranconi sent him to the mountains of Karenni (east of Loikaw) to rebuild the mission devastated by the war. In 1947, he founded the mission of Shadaw. It was there that he met the Burmese catechist Isidore Ngei Ko Lat in 1948, who became his closest collaborator. In September 1948, another young PIME missionary, Father Pietro Galastri, came to assist him.

After Burma's independence in 1948, the region descended into civil war between government forces and various rebel groups. Some of these groups, influenced by factions hostile to Catholics, began to persecute missionaries and their faithful. At the beginning of 1950, the violence intensified. In April, the catechist Giacomo Còlei was imprisoned in Taruddà and another catechist, named Pio, was murdered.

In order to negotiate the release of Giacomo Còlei and to protect the other catechists, Father Vergara requested a meeting in Shadaw with the rebel leader Tire, set for May 24, 1950. Accompanied by Isidore Ngei Ko Lat, he went to the location but found another rebel leader there, Richmond. Accused of being spies in the pay of the government, the priest and his catechist were subjected to a brutal interrogation before being arrested. At the same time, the mission house was attacked and Father Pietro Galastri was captured and then murdered in the forest.

At dawn on May 25, 1950, after a long forced march, Father Mario Vergara and Isidore Ngei Ko Lat were shot by the rebels. Their bodies, enclosed in sacks, were thrown into the Salween River and were never found.

The cause for the beatification of Father Mario Vergara was opened in 2003 in the Diocese of Loikaw by Bishop Sotero Phamo. In 2009, the cause of Isidore Ngei Ko Lat was associated with his. On December 9, 2013, Pope Francis officially recognized their martyrdom in hatred of the faith.

Father Mario Vergara and the catechist Isidore Ngei Ko Lat were solemnly beatified on Saturday, May 24, 2014, in the Cathedral of San Paolo in Aversa, Italy. The Eucharistic celebration and the rite of beatification were presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Francis.

Their liturgical memorial is set for May 25, the anniversary of their birth into heaven.

The spirituality of Father Mario Vergara is deeply marked by an ardent apostolic zeal and a desire to offer his life for the salvation of souls, going so far as to accept the martyrdom he had sensed since his youth. His ministry was characterized by concrete charity toward the poorest, the orphans, and the sick, without distinction of religion.

His legacy remains alive in Myanmar, particularly in the Diocese of Loikaw, where he is venerated as a father in the faith. His beatification alongside Isidore Ngei Ko Lat, the first indigenous blessed of Burma, constitutes a powerful symbol of unity and encouragement for catechists and missionaries throughout the world.