Martyrs of La Rioja

Carlos de Dios Murias was born on 10 October 1945 in Córdoba to an estate agent; one sibling was Marta. His father wanted him to become a soldier but Murias did not desire that career path for himself.[3] His mother was a schoolteacher who worked in the town of Villa Giardino. He attended school in Córdoba before deciding to become a veterinarian. He abandoned this soon after and decided to pursue studies in civil engineering. But he later stopped that too and in 1965 entered the Order of Friars Minor Conventual for his novitiate while making his initial profession in 1966 and his solemn vows not long after.

In his adolescence he first met and became close with Enrique Angelelli who served as the Bishop of La Rioja. He requested that Angelelli ordain him which occurred in 17 December 1972. He first worked on the outskirts of Buenos Aires and then in a Franciscan parish.

Murias developed ties with - but never was a member - the left-wing movement known as Christians for Liberation. In 1975 he worked in the Itatí slum at José León Suárez in Buenos Aires. In Itatí he accompanied a statue of the Virgin of Itatí from house to house while reciting rosaries and fast became a beloved priest in the area. In December 1975 his mentor Angelelli offered him refuge in La Rioja following political conflict and rising violence where Murias was stationed and so he moved to La Rioja where the poor soon became his focus.[3] This came after Murias asked for authorization to move to La Rioja so he could be able to work alongside Angelelli.

He tended to the poor in La Rioja and had a passion for being able to help them and the underprivileged people living in La Rioja. He was stationed together with the French priest Gabriel Longueville in a small parish church. Jorge Rafael Videla soon launched a coup and managed to gain control over the nation leading to increased violence and religious persecution. Murias's patron and mentor Angelelli was an outspoken critic of the regime as was Murias to a lesser extent.[2] But Murias soon attracted the attention of the authorities with an intelligence officer stationed at their air base monitoring his homilies and those of Loungeville. In Easter week in 1976 he had been summoned at midnight to the Chamical air base (under the direction of General Luciano Benjamín Menéndez) where he was questioned for four hours. One of the soldiers told Murias that the Catholic Church "is not a Church we believe in".[4][3] On 18 July 1976 he presided over a Mass at the chapel in the Santa Barbara church and said to his congregation: "Please, brothers, pray for us, we've been threatened and they're looking for us". This was when Angelelli began to fear for Murias and had instructed him to go to Rome so he would be safe. Murias promised the bishop that he would do so in September but he decided to remain in La Rioja so as to help defend the rights of farmhands who claimed parcels of land from radicalized landowners who were part of a corrupt movement.

In the evening on 18 July soldiers came to their apartment at the back of the parochial residence in a truck and van and kidnapped the pair to be taken to an air force base in Chamical. But the soldiers arrived for Murias and not Longueville; the Frenchman refused to allow Murias to be taken alone and so decided to be taken with him as a captive. He and Longueville were both tortured and shot dead with their mutilated bodies dumped in the middle of a field where workers discovered them on 20 July on Route 38.[3] Murias was found with both eyes gouged out and his hands cut off while both men were found with plastic over their mouths and Longueville in handcuffs.[2][4]

Bishop Angelelli celebrated over the dual funeral of Murias and Longueville.

Gabriel Longueville was born in Ardèche on 18 March 1931. The Bishop of Viviers Alfred Couderc ordained him to the priesthood in the diocesan cathedral on 29 June 1957 while in 1969 the Bishop Jean Hermil sent him to Argentina. He dedicated himself to the needs of the poor and soon began working in La Rioja in the same parish as the priest Carlos de Dios Murias. Both had their homilies monitored and both were kidnapped while dining in the evening on 18 July 1976.

The pair were tortured and shot dead. His remains were discovered alongside Murias in the middle of a field on Route 38 after rail workers stumbled upon the remains. Both had plastic in their mouths and his hands were handcuffed.[2] The Bishop of Viviers Hermil learnt of his death and travelled to the site Longueville's remains were found in order to kiss the ground and plant grains of wheat from Longueville's village as a mark of respect.

Wenceslao Pedernera was born on 28 September 1936 in La Calera. He married Marta Ramona Cornejo - nicknamed "Coca" - on 24 March 1962. The couple had three daughters together and in June 1973 relocated to La Rioja where he began working on a farm. He had first met his wife in June 1961 but Cornejo's father disapproved of their relationship. The pair married in Mendoza in the San Isidro Labrador church. Pedernera organized the Movimento Rural Catolico movement that was dedicated to social activism and addressed a range of social concerns for workers and farmers. On 25 July 1976 four hooded and armed men burst into his house and gunned him down with 20 shots in front of his wife and daughters.