Ezekiel Moreno: Augustinian Recollect, missionary, bishop, saint and intercessor of the sick

“The uncontrollable desire to announce Christ guided every step of Ezekiel Moreno’s life. He gave himself without reserve and his faith in God sustained him in his dedication to the service of all, in particular the poorest and most abandoned. He is a model for pastors who want to respond with new ardour, new methods, new expression, to the great challenges facing the Church.” (Saint John Paul II).

Ezekiel Moreno was born on April 9, 1848 in Alfaro (La Rioja, Spain) to a poor, hard-working and honest family. He was a child of calm and constant character, with a lively and determined personality, and very generous.

From a young age he felt called to religious life and in 1864 he entered the novitiate of the Augustinian Recollects of Monteagudo (Navarra). Imbued with a special affection for the missions, in 1868 he arrived in the Philippines, where he completed his training and was ordained a priest in 1871.

At the age of 23, he began missionary work in Calapan (Mindoro, Philippines). Only seven months later he accompanied an expedition to the island of Palawan. A strong malaria forced him to return to Manila and after recovering he continued evangelizing in Calapan, Las Piñas, Santo Tomas de Batangas and Santa Cruz. At this stage he is remembered for his insistence on community life, pastoral dedication and his affection for the needy and the sick.

At the age of 37 he was named prior of Monteagudo, in Spain, the house where future missionaries were trained. For three years he had a profound influence on the young people. He also cared for sick religious and served the people in times of famine and difficulty.

In 1889 he began a new mission: the restoration of the Augustinian Recollection in Colombia. For five years he carried out intense pastoral and religious activity in Bogota and reorganized the novitiate in El Desierto de la Candelaria. Later he did missionary work in Casanare, in the northeast of Colombia, a land isolated from the country by the Andean mountain range.

Ezekiel reaffirmed this mission with enormous pastoral work. He denounced the injustices and neglect of the region, and for his work Rome elevated the region to an Apostolic Vicariate and named him vicar. In 1894 he was ordained bishop to fulfill this task. His work is exemplary: he establishes communities, conceives a program of evangelization and development, seeks support, trains leaders, founds orphanages and schools.

In 1896, given his performance, he is named bishop of Pasto, in Nariño. Located 900 kilometers south of Bogotá, next to the border with Ecuador, this diocese occupies a vast territory with great geographic and social contrasts. His greatest challenge is in his relationship with the authorities, who are anti-religious and radically liberal. He is defamed and insulted, but ends up becoming a reference for the entire country. His Diocese will be one of the hot spots of the civil war of 1899.

His life of prayer, his austerity, his love for the poor, his dedication of time to the people on the street… Everything leads him to give himself to others.

In 1905, the cancer began to manifest itself, which led to his resignation and transfer to Spain and, finally, to his death on August 19, 1906, at the age of 58. His reputation for sanctity survived and he was canonized on October 11, 1992 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

More than a hundred years later, in a very different world but with the same spiritual needs, his life calls us to desire in an uncontrollable way the announcement of the world that God wants: that of peace, joy and firm hope; that of the dignity of every person. The one that Jesus taught.

In the following pages we review in more detail various aspects of Ezekiel’s life.

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