Wenceslao Pedernera

Having become a committed Christian, Wenceslao Pedernera began to campaign for the dignity of land workers. Elected by his peers as a spokesperson to defend the rights of workers against the management of the Gargantini vineyards, he joined the Rural Movement of Argentine Catholic Action (Movimiento Rural de la Acción Católica Argentina). At the end of 1973, he was appointed coordinator of this movement for the Cuyo region.

In 1972, he participated in training sessions in the province of La Rioja, where he met Monsignor Enrique Angelelli, the diocesan bishop. Marked by the pastoral care of this bishop, entirely devoted to the poor and to social justice, Wenceslao chose to move with his family to Sañogasta (La Rioja) in 1973-1974.

Once there, he became actively involved in the establishment of agricultural labor cooperatives (notably the "La Buena Estrella" plot project) encouraged by the diocese. His goal was to enable small farmers and agricultural workers to collectively farm the land in order to escape precariousness and the abuses of large landowners (latifundistas). At the same time, Wenceslao and his wife served as catechists in La Puntilla, on the outskirts of Sañogasta, and organized clothing drives for the most destitute. This social and evangelical action, perceived as "subversive" by the military authorities and local notables, earned him numerous threats.

In March 1976, a military coup d'état established a repressive dictatorship in Argentina. The regime systematically targeted social activists, trade unionists, and members of the Catholic Church committed to the poorest.

The climate of violence culminated in July 1976 in the Diocese of La Rioja. On July 18, Father Carlos de Dios Murias and the Fidei Donum priest Gabriel Longueville were kidnapped and murdered in El Chamical. A week later, on the night of July 24 to 25, 1976, around 2:45 a.m., four hooded and armed men knocked on the door of Wenceslao's house in Sañogasta. Despite the warnings of his wife who feared for his life, Wenceslao decided to open the door, saying: "What if it is someone who needs help?".

As soon as he opened it, the assailants shot him at point-blank range before the eyes of his wife and daughters. Seriously wounded, he was transported to the hospital in Chilecito. Before passing away a few hours later, on July 25, 1976, he received the last sacraments from Father Antonio Puigjané. His final words addressed to his family were a heroic testimony of Christian charity: "Do not hate, forgive, I have already forgiven them". A few days later, on August 4, 1976, Bishop Angelelli was in turn murdered in a car accident staged by the security forces.

The cause for the beatification of Wenceslao Pedernera and his fellow martyrs (Fathers Carlos de Dios Murias and Gabriel Longueville) began at the diocesan level on May 31, 2011, and concluded on May 15, 2015. The cause of Bishop Angelelli was subsequently attached to it.

On June 8, 2018, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the martyrdom of Wenceslao Pedernera and his three companions, who were murdered "in hatred of the faith" (in odium fidei).

The solemn beatification ceremony was celebrated on April 27, 2019, at the City Park (Parque de la Ciudad) in La Rioja, Argentina. It was presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and legate of Pope Francis.

Regarding the Argentine civil justice system, the trial concerning the assassination of Wenceslao Pedernera was held in 2023. On December 11, 2023, the Federal Oral Tribunal of La Rioja sentenced former gendarmerie officer Eduardo Abelardo Britos to life imprisonment as the mastermind of the murder, a sentence definitively confirmed by the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation on December 16, 2025.

Wenceslao Pedernera embodies the figure of the "saint of the next door," a layman, husband, and father whose holiness was forged in the daily work of the land and the love of the Scriptures. His spirituality rests on a total adherence to the Gospel, which he strove to translate into concrete acts of solidarity, social justice, and community life. His immediate forgiveness granted to his executioners on his deathbed remains a moving testimony of Christian non-violence.

By a decree of the Bishop of La Rioja, Monsignor Dante Braida, signed on September 18, 2019, Blessed Wenceslao Pedernera was declared "Patron of the Peasant Families of La Rioja" (Patrono de las Familias Campesinas Riojanas). Furthermore, the Argentine Episcopal Conference designated him as "Patron of the Biblical Animation of Pastoral Care" (Patrono de la animación bíblica de la pastoral), thus honoring his absolute fidelity to the Word of God. His mortal remains rest in the Sacred Heart Chapel in Sañogasta.