Historical and biographical review of some of the main figures of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine of the Order of Augustinian Recollects from its foundation to the present day.
Justo Goizueta was born in San Martín de Unx, Navarra, Spain, on 27 November 1912. He professed his vows in Monteagudo in 1928 and was ordained as a priest in Ivybridge, Devon, England, in 1935.
His first assignment was in Venezuela, where he carried out his priestly ministry in Caracas, Maracaibo, La Guaira, and Puerto Cabello. In January 1948, he was sent to Mexico, serving in San Felipe del Progreso, Churubusco, and Patrocinio de San José. He was named provincial commissary in 1948, became the prior of San Felipe, Acapulco, and Veracruz, and was appointed vicar provincial in 1961.
In 1967, the Holy See appointed him administrator of the newly created Prelature of Madera in Chihuahua, and shortly thereafter, its prelate (1968-1988). He was consecrated as a bishop on 8 March 1970 in Santa Monica, Mexico City.
In Madera, as mandated by the Decree of Establishment, Goizueta built a seminary and focused intently on promoting diocesan vocations. He constructed the cathedral, featuring stained-glass windows that depict the saints of the Order. Additionally, he founded schools and homes for the elderly.
He was always accompanied by young missionaries; at one point, there were 23 Recollect confreres, whose numbers gradually decreased as the local Church grew.
His most notable trait was his spirit of sacrifice. Despite the Prelature’s challenging geography, extreme climate, and communication difficulties, he tirelessly visited every corner, whether small villages or large towns, traveling on foot, horseback, and across all terrains.
Reflecting on his pastoral work, a journalist in a national daily wrote: “Fray Justo uplifted the sick and provided the last rites to the dying. Fray Justo baptized the indigenous peoples deep in the mountains.”
Upon reaching 75 years of age, after twenty years in the Prelature, he resigned and retired to San Mónica, where he lived until his death in 1991. There, he participated in all the community tasks, just like everyone else.
His mortal remains are interred in the cathedral church of Ciudad Madera.
