6 beatification causes advance, including martyred Guatemalan priest

January 23, 2026

In an audience with the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV approved the promulgation of decrees that pave the way for the beatification of two Servants of God and recognize the heroic virtue of four others.

By approving a decree on a miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Maria Ignazia Isacchi (1857-1934), Pope Leo paved the way for the beatification of the Italian foundress of the Ursulines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Asola.

Likewise, by approving a decree on the martyrdom of the Father Augusto Rafael Ramírez Monasterio, OFM (1937-1983), Pope Leo paved the way for the beatification of a Guatemalan priest who refused to divulge what he heard in Confession and was tortured and murdered.

The Pontiff also approved four decrees of heroic virtue, thus permitting four Servants of God to be styled venerable:

• Mother Maria Tecla Antonia Relucenti (1704-1769), the co-foundress of the Sisters Pious Workers of the Immaculate Conception
• Sister Crocifissa Militerni (1874-1925), an member of the Sisters of Saint John the Baptist
• Mother Maria Imaculada of the Holy Trinity (1909-1988), the Brazilian foundress of the Carmelites of the Holy Family of Pouso Alegre
• Nerino Cobianchi (1945-1988), a layman, husband, and father whose “life was marked by intense charitable activity rooted in a firm faith, nourished by prayer, daily Mass, reading of the Bible, and recitation of the Rosary,” Vatican News reported

Mother Maria Imaculada of the Holy Trinity lived in Brazil; the other three, in Italy.

 

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Further information:

• Promulgation of Decrees of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, 22.01.2026 (Holy See Press Office, 1/22/26)
• Pope approves decrees for 2 new Blesseds and 4 Venerables (Vatican News, 1/22/26)