Gabriel Longueville

In 1968, eager to respond to the call of Pope Pius XII's encyclical Fidei Donum, which encourages the sending of diocesan priests to mission countries, Gabriel Longueville prepared for Latin America. He first spent three months in Cuernavaca, Mexico, at the Center for Intercultural Formation (CIF), to learn Spanish and familiarize himself with the political, social, and trade union history of the continent. In 1970, he arrived in Argentina on February 1st, sent by his bishop, Mgr. Jean Hermil. His first ministry was carried out in the Archdiocese of Corrientes. However, wishing to live a pastoral insertion closer to the working classes and the most destitute, he chose in 1971 to join the Diocese of La Rioja, in the northwest of the country. He was warmly welcomed there by Bishop Mgr. Enrique Angelelli, a prominent figure of the Argentine Church and signatory of the Pact of the Catacombs, whose pastoral orientations stemming from the Second Vatican Council he fully shared. On May 7, 1971, Father Longueville was appointed vicar of the El Salvador parish in Chamical, before becoming its parish priest in 1972. In this vast, arid, and poor region, he deployed intense pastoral and social activity. A simple, discreet, and deeply pious man, he traveled the parish by bicycle to visit the most isolated families. A self-taught artist, he devoted himself to wood carving and painting to express his faith. Faced with the misery of small farmers and workers, he actively committed himself to their dignity. He supported the creation of agricultural cooperatives, weaving workshops, and Caritas initiatives, allowing local populations to free themselves from the exploitation of large landowners. This pastoral of liberation and social justice, carried out in close collaboration with his young vicar, Father Carlos de Dios Murias (a Conventual Franciscan), quickly drew the hostility of conservative elites and local military authorities, who accused him of spreading Marxist ideas.

After the military coup of March 24, 1976, which established a bloody dictatorship in Argentina, pressures and threats became increasingly precise against the Church of La Rioja. The homilies and social actions of Fathers Longueville and Murias were closely monitored by the armed forces.

On Sunday, July 18, 1976, after sharing a meal with some nuns, Father Carlos de Dios Murias was arrested in Chamical by armed men in civilian clothes presenting themselves as federal police. Refusing to abandon his vicar in the face of danger, Father Gabriel Longueville decided to accompany him voluntarily, speaking these words: "I am coming with you" (voy contigo).

The two priests were taken to the Chamical military air base, where they underwent violent interrogations and atrocious torture. They were then shot in hatred of the faith. Their bullet-riddled bodies, blindfolded and bearing marks of abuse, were found the next day, July 19, in a vacant lot located about five kilometers from Chamical.

This double assassination marked the beginning of a wave of targeted repression against the diocese. On July 25, 1976, the layman and rural activist Wenceslao Pedernera was in turn shot at his home. A few days later, on August 4, 1976, Bishop Enrique Angelelli, who was returning from celebrating the funeral mass for the two priests in Chamical and was carrying documents proving their assassination, was killed in a car accident caused by the military.

The beatification process for Gabriel Longueville and his companions officially opened on July 24, 2011, under the pontificate of Benedict XVI, after obtaining the nihil obstat from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

On June 8, 2018, Pope Francis signed the decree officially recognizing the martyrdom in odium fidei of Bishop Enrique Angelelli, Father Gabriel Longueville, Father Carlos de Dios Murias, and the layman Wenceslao Pedernera.

The solemn beatification ceremony was celebrated on April 27, 2019, at the City Park of La Rioja, in Argentina. It was presided over, in the name of Pope Francis, by Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in the presence of numerous bishops, priests, and faithful who came from Argentina and France.

Their common liturgical memorial is set for July 17, the anniversary of the birth of Bishop Angelelli (born July 17, 1923), thus highlighting the communal dimension of their witness and their martyrdom.

The spirituality of Blessed Gabriel Longueville is based on an intimate union with God and a pastoral charity embodied among the poorest. His self-denial, his patience, and his closeness to the Riojan people testify to a faith lived as a selfless service. Pope Francis, who knew him personally in Argentina, presented him as a model of self-giving and attention to the excluded for the priests of his native land.

His legacy remains extremely alive, both in Argentina and in France. In Chamical, the place where the bodies of the two priests were found has become a pilgrimage sanctuary called "Bajo de Luca" or "The Martyrs," adorned with an oratory. A "Room of the Memory of Our Martyrs" has been set up in the parish house of Chamical to preserve his personal objects, his writings, and his sculptures.

In France, the Diocese of Viviers continues to honor his memory. On May 1, 2021, the new single parish of the Annonay basin was placed under his patronage, becoming the "Blessed Gabriel Longueville Parish." Furthermore, a school complex in Le Teil also bears his name.