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Bl. Emmanuel Gómez González (1877-1924)

 

Emmanuel Gómez González, son of José and Josefina, was born on 29 May 1877 in São José de Ribarteme, in the Diocese of Tuy, Spain. He was baptized the following day.

He was ordained a priest on 24 May 1902 and exercised his priestly ministry in his native Diocese for two years. In 1904 his request to be incardinated into the neighbouring Diocese of Braga, Portugal, was granted. He served there as parish priest from 1905 to 1913.

When political and religious persecution began in 1913, Fr González was permitted to sail to Brazil. After a brief stop in Rio de Janeiro, Bishop Miguel de Lima Valverde welcomed him in the Diocese of Santa Maria (Rio Grande do Sul), and on 23 January 1914 entrusted him with the duty of parish priest in Saudade.

In December 1915 Fr González was transferred to the Northern part of the Diocese, to a large parish in Nonoai that could have been considered a small diocese in itself. Here he dedicated himself to evangelization with such enthusiasm that within the eight years of his ministry, he significantly improved the level of faith in that area.

His ministry also included the pastoral care of the native Indians and the duty of parish administrator in the vacant parish of Palmeiras das Missões. He was, in fact, martyred in that remote region.

    

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