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Mario Vergara | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 25 August 1934 by Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster |
| Rank | Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mario Vergara (1910-11-16)16 November 1910 |
| Died | 24 May 1950(1950-05-24) (aged 39) |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 24 May |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 24 May 2014 Cathedral of San Paolo,Aversa,Caserta, Italy by CardinalAngelo Amato |
Mario Vergara (16 November 1910 – 24 May 1950) was an Italian Catholicpriest of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions who was killed inBurma (now Myanmar) in 1950. He was beatified in 2014 after the recognition of his martyrdom.[1]
Mario Vergara was born on 16 November 1910 and wasbaptized on 20 November - a week after his birth. He was the last of nine children.
He entered theseminary inAversa and studied there until the age of 17 when he was admitted to a seminary inNaples. It was there where hismissionary vocation emerged. In 1929, he entered the seminary inMonza and he later received thetonsure and theminor orders by theBishop of Aversa in 1932.
He was admitted into thenovitiate of thePontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in August 1933 and he wasordained to thepriesthood on 26 August 1934 by theCardinalArchbishop of MilanAlfredo Ildefonso Schuster. By September that same year, he travelled toBurma to begin his missionary activities.
Vergara was entrusted a small village and it was there that he ensured that there be regularcatechesis lessons and the celebration of the sacraments. He also established various assistance services and anorphanage for children.
WhenWorld War II started, Vergara was interned in a British concentration camp inIndia in 1940. After he was released he travelled toDelhi and later toCalcutta in June 1946. It was there that he underwentnephrectomy surgery. He returned to Burma in 1947 and continued his mission there, and met the catechistIsidore Ngei Ko Lat. The two worked together in the villages.
After the nation gained independence in 1948, both Vergara and Ko Lat received death threats. This culminated in 1950 when the two were both murdered byguerillas.
TheCongregation for the Causes of Saints approved the cause of beatification which commenced on 23 October 2001. This bestowed upon him the title ofServant of God.Pope Francis approved his and Isidoro Ngei Ko Lat's martyrdom on 9 December 2013, thus, allowing for their beatification. CardinalAngelo Amato represented the pope at the beatification on 24 May 2014.
