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Vatican names four as martyrs of Argentine junta
VATICAN CITY, June 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A bishop, two priests and a layman
killed by Argentina’s military junta in 1976 have been recognised as martyrs,
the Vatican announced Saturday, opening the way for their beatification.
Bishop Enrique Angelelli, French priest Gabriel Longueville and two other
Catholics died as martyrs after a military coup, said a decree from the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
On July 18, Franciscan Father Carlos de Dios Murias and Longueville were
detained and taken to an air base.
They were interrogated and tortured before being murdered. Their bullet-
ridden bodies were found two days later.
On August 4, Angelelli, the bishop of La Rioja, died in a road “accident”
after holding a mass for the two murdered priests.
The bishop had received death threats and the accident was found to be
murder in 2014 and the killer jailed for life.
The four, including layman Wenceslao Pedernera, died because of “hatred of
the faith”, despite the military regime claiming to support Christianity, the
Vatican said.
Tens of thousands of people, including numerous priests, were killed during
the “Dirty War” in Argentina between 1976 and 1983, when the junta
relinquished power.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1822 hrs