 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Polish. (February 2015)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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| You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Polish. (February 2015)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Three Martyrs of Chimbote | |
|---|---|
 Michał, Zbigniew and Alessandro in Catedral of Chimbote | |
| Priests; Martyrs | |
| Born | Michał Tomaszek : 23 September 1960 Łękawica,Żywiec,Poland Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski : 3 July 1958 Tarnów,Poland Alessandro Dordi : 23 January 1931 Gromo San Marino,Bergamo,Italy |
| Died | Michał Tomaszek : 9 August 1991 (aged 30) Pariacoto,Ancash,Peru Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski : 9 August 1991 (aged 33) Pariacoto,Ancash,Peru Alessandro Dordi : 25 August 1991 (aged 60) Riconada,Ancash,Peru |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 5 December 2015,Chimbote,Peru by CardinalAngelo Amato |
| Feast | |
| Attributes | |
| Patronage | |
TheThree Martyrs of Chimbote were a group of two Polish Franciscan priests and one Italianmissionary priest murdered in Peru in 1991 by theShining Path communist guerillas.Michał Tomaszek andZbigniew Adam Strzałkowski, andAlessandro Dordi were murdered on 9 August and 25 August 1991 respectively.[1][2][3]
Both Polish Franciscans dedicated their work to the faithful of Peru in charitable and merciful acts that appealed to their Franciscan charism, taking as their models for their work bothSaint Francis of Assisi andSaint Maximilian Kolbe. In response to adrought in 1989, the two friars brought with them food fromCaritas to cater to the immediate needs of the people. Yet the two also catechized the faithful and preached on various saints, in the process, revitalizing the faith of the Peruvian people.
Dordi served in Peru since 1980 and tended to the social needs of the Peruvian people while assisting withrural development programs and for his esteemed preaching abilities.
Pope Francis gave approval on 3 February 2015 to theirbeatification after affirming their martyrdom, and the celebration of beatification was celebrated inPeru by CardinalAngelo Amato on 5 December 2015. A miracle attributed to the three will be required for their eventual canonization.
Tomaszek was born on 23 September 1960 and was a professed member of theConventual Franciscans; he received the Franciscan habit on 4 October 1980 on the feast ofSaint Francis of Assisi.
Tomaszek wasbaptized a month after his birth in Saint Michael's parish in his home town and was an altar boy at the time he received hisFirst Communion in 1969 at the same time his father died. He graduated from high school in 1975 and continued his studies in a Franciscanseminary, professing his temporary vows in 1981. He commenced hisnovitiate after five years of study and studiedtheology from 1981 to 1987. He studied bothphilosophy andtheology and defended his thesis on moral theology
He wasordained to thepriesthood on 23 May 1987.[1]
On 24 July 1989, he was dispatched to Peru and despite threats against him, he continued his missionary activities alongside fellow Franciscan Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski. In 1991, he was abducted and murdered by theShining PathCommunist guerilla faction.
Strzałkowski was born on 3 July 1958 and was a professed member of theConventual Franciscans.[3] He was baptized a week following his birth and made his First Communion in 1967.
He graduated fromsecondary schooling in 1978 and he joined the Franciscan order the following year. He studied both philosophy and theology while in the seminary and after this was ordained as a priest on 7 June 1986 byHenryk Gulbinowicz. He served as the assistant rector at theminor seminary in Legnica for two years.
He professed his solemn vows on 8 December 1984 prior to his ordination.
He commenced missionary work in Peru from November 1988. He tended to the ill who often referred to him as "our little doctor" since he helped the ill to get better through words of comfort or providing them with theEucharist.[4] It was during the course of his work in Peru that he met Michał Tomaszek. Both were abducted in 1991 and were murdered by a Communist terrorist group.
Dordi was born on 23 January 1931 and he served as a priest in his birthplace ofBergamo.
Dordi had administered to Italian immigrants inSwitzerland and he served in watch factories there as a worker-priest. It was there that he became aware of the concerns of the working class and decided to place great focus on social matters.
He was also a member of the missions ofFidei Donum and travelled to Peru where he did work in the missions there. He served in the Santa parish and was committed to the farming sector while helping them implement rural development programs. At the time he learned of the fates of the two Polish friars' fate, Tomaszek and Strzałkowski with whom he was friends with, he kept telling his close collaborators that he would be the next victim of the Shining Path terrorist group; indeed, they deemed Dordi a great threat.[5]
He was returning from a chapel to baptize children and celebrate Mass when he was ambushed and shot, thus murdered in 1991.[2]
The cause for the beatification of the three priests commenced underPope John Paul II with the declaration of "nihil obstat" (nothing against) on 5 June 1995 which opened the cause in Peru to investigate their deaths and both their lives and their work in Chimbote; the process spanned from 9 August 1996 until 25 August 2002. The documentation was submitted to theCongregation for the Causes of Saints inRome in 2011 after the diocesan process closed.
Pope Francis approved the beatification in 2015 which occurred on 5 December 2015; CardinalAngelo Amato presided over the mass.
The pope venerated the relics of the two Poles at a Franciscanconvent on the occasion of his visit to Poland forWorld Youth Day 2016.
TheCongregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments approved the request of the Franciscans - on 26 February 2016 - that the liturgical feast for the two Poles be moved from 9 August to 7 June.[6]
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