Ezequiel Moreno

Ezequiél Moreno y Díaz was a Spanish Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Pasto from 1895 to 1906. He was a member of the Order of Augustinian Recollects and previously served as a missionary to the Philippines and as Vicar Apostolic of Casanare in Colombia.

Moreno was canonized in 1992 and is popularly invoked as the patron saint of cancer patients.

Early life and entry to the Order of Augustinian Recollects Born April 9, 1848 in the city of Alfaro, La Rioja, Spain to Félix Moreno and María Josefa Díaz, he was the third of six children. His father was a tailor. His nephew Julián Moreno is venerated as a Blessed because of his martyrdom in Motril. Ezequiel served as an altar boy for the Dominican nuns and developed a devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary.

Following the example of his older brother, Moreno entered the Recoletos in Monteagudo, Navarra, Spain on September 21, 1864 taking the name Fray Ezequiel Moreno de la Virgen del Rosario. Later, he made his solemn vow in Marcialla (also in Navarra) on September 22, 1865.

Philippine missions

Arrival and ordination in Manila The monastery in Monteagudo was known for dispatching missionaries to both the Americas and the Philippines. On October 14, 1869 he embarked from Cádiz arriving in Manila on February 10, 1870.

In the middle that year, Moreno sailed on to the Visayan town of Jaro, Iloilo where he received and finished his minor orders. A year later, he returned to Manila to receive his sacerdotal orders

Involvement in Colombian politics Devotional statue of St. Ezequiel Moreno at the Basilica Minore de San Sebastian, Manila. As most of the Colombian Church hierarchy, Ezequiel Moreno aligned himself with the Colombian Conservative Party. During the Thousand Days War, he used his writings and preaching sermons to attack the Colombian Liberal Party. He expressed in his pastoral letters, the defense of what he believed in, with the purpose of making clear the commitments of a Catholic, above political affiliations. His statement, “liberalism is a sin,” may have been the most controversial.