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Ezechiele Ramin

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Servant of God
Ezechiele Ramin
Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus
Born 9 February 1953, Padua, Italy
Died 24 July 1985, Cacoal, Rondônia, Brazil
State of life Professed Comboni missionary priest; killed
Religious institute Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus
Ecclesial status Servant of God; cause opened on 1 April 2016
Recognition Diocesan inquiry completed; Roman phase ongoing

Ezechiele Ramin was an Italian Comboni missionary priest, documented as M.C.C.J., killed in Brazil after accompanying rural communities threatened by violent land conflicts.

Overview

Ezechiele "Lele" Ramin, MCCJ (Brazilian Portuguese: Ezequiel; 9 February 1953 – 24 July 1985) was an Italian Comboni missionary and artist. He was described as a martyr of charity by Pope John Paul II after his murder in Brazil while defending the rights of the farmers and the Suruí natives of the Rondônia area against local landowners.[1][2] His cause for beatification was opened in 2016, granting him the title of a Servant of God.

Life

Ezechiele Ramin was born in Padua (in the Veneto region of Italy) in 1953, the fourth of six sons in a modest family. He studied at a Liceo classico in a Catholic school (Collegio Vescovile Gregorio Barbarigo) where he became aware of the poverty widespread throughout the world. This pushed him to join the charity Mani Tese ("Outstretched Hands"), organising several camps to collect funds in order to support small projects related to the association.[2]

In 1972, he decided to join the religious institute of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus; his studies brought him to move first to Florence,[3] then to Venegono Inferiore (in the Province of Varese) and finally to Chicago,[2] where he graduated from Catholic Theological Union and served in the St. Ludmila Parish.[4] After having experienced missionary work with impoverished Native Americans in South Dakota and later, for one year, in Baja California (Mexico),[2] he was ordained a priest on September 28, 1980 in his native Padua.[5][6] He was assigned to a parish in Naples but, following the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, he moved to San Mango sul Calore to assist the victims;[1][7] he returned to Naples in 1981 where he organised one of the first pacific demonstrations against camorra. The following year he moved to Troia in Apulia, where he acted as a focal point for vocational groups.[6]

Origins and formation

Ramin grew up in Padua amid a large Catholic family and entered the Comboni Missionaries as a young man. Formation included study in Florence and Chicago, pastoral experience among impoverished communities, religious profession, and Holy Orders in 1980. He understood mission through Daniel Comboni's charism, Catholic social teaching, and the conviction that evangelization addresses whole persons rather than separating sacramental life from material injustice.

Vocation and service

Sent to Cacoal in the Brazilian Amazon in 1984, Ramin served Indigenous peoples, migrant farmers, and landless families amid deforestation and concentrated land ownership. He celebrated the Eucharist, formed communities, visited settlements, and supported nonviolent defense of rights. His letters reveal both indignation and a desire to avoid hatred. He did not hold civil authority over land disputes and warned people against actions likely to provoke lethal reprisals.

Cacoal

In 1984, he was assigned to Cacoal, in Rondônia (Brazil). On January 20, 1984 he moved to Brasília, where he underwent further education in pastoral care, and finally reached Rondônia in July of that year.[8]

He seemed wary of the situation in Cacoal, but accepted his assignment with the words "If Christ needs me, how can I refuse?"[9]

There he encountered a difficult situation: the many small farmers of the area were oppressed, through both legal and illegal actions, by the local landowners. Also, the indigenous Suruí tribes had only recently been forced to become sedentary by being allocated land by the Brazilian government and were growing restless.[10]

Inspired by the teachings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer,[2][11] he put himself to the front in their struggle for justice, trying to lead them to a pacifistic protest rather than to start an armed revolution.

The situation he was in brought him to fear for his life. In early 1985 he was threatened with being killed;[6] in many of the letters he wrote to his family in that year he wonders if he will ever see them again.[5][12]

Christian witness

On 24 July 1985 Ramin accompanied a union leader to Fazenda Catuva to urge occupying farmers to withdraw peacefully while negotiations continued. Gunmen ambushed him on the return journey and shot him repeatedly. The circumstances support a reputation for martyrial charity, but the Church has not yet promulgated a decree of martyrdom; accuracy requires calling him killed in mission and Servant of God, not Blessed martyr.

Ramin's final service cannot be detached from the ordinary disciplines that preceded it: religious community, prayer, Scripture, listening across cultures, and willingness to examine his own anger. His cause asks whether Christian charity became heroic amid structural conflict. It does not settle every Brazilian land claim or turn violence into a desirable end; accompaniment of the poor remains ordered to peace, justice, and reconciliation.

Ecclesial recognition

Cause and present status

The Diocese of Padua formally opened Ramin's beatification and canonization cause on 1 April 2016, granting him the title Servant of God. A rogatory inquiry gathered evidence in Brazil, and the diocesan phase later closed for transmission to Rome. As of 30 August 2026 no decree of martyrdom, heroic virtues, or offering of life has been promulgated, so his canonical status has not advanced beyond Servant of God.[13]

Liturgical and devotional scope

The opening and diocesan completion of the cause do not authorize public liturgical cult or create a feast. Catholics may privately invoke Servant of God Ezechiele Ramin and use properly approved prayers for the cause. Comboni commemorations, places of death, and personal objects have historical and spiritual value, but public veneration and canonical relic cult must await the Church's further judgment.[14]

Death and aftermath

On July 24, 1985, Ramin, alongside the local trade union leader Adilio de Souza,[15] chaired a meeting in Fazenda Catuva[1] in Ji-Paraná, in the nearby state of Rondônia,[16] trying to persuade the small farmers employed there to avoid taking arms against the landowners,[17] going against a request of caution issued by his superiors.[18] On his way back with de Souza, at midday,[19] he was attacked by seven pistoleros (hired gunmen) who shot him more than 50 times.[20][21] Before dying, he whispered the words "I forgive you".[18] As Ramin's body couldn't be recovered by his fellow missionaries for about 24 hours after his death, a group of Suruí indios kept vigil until their arrival.[6]

He was buried in the Padua Cemetery.[6]

Some days after the event Pope John Paul II declared Ramin a "martyr of charity".[22]

Ivo Lorscheiter, the then-President of CNBB (the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops), took inspiration from Ramin's murder to urge the Brazilian society to work towards a deep "structural change".[23]

The reaction to Ramin's murder by the local farmers went against his teachings: in November of the same year a landowner and his general manager were killed by the same people Ramin had been trying to help, and some days later another farm manager was shot.[24]

In 1988, two of the men who shot Ramin – Deuzelio Goncalves Fraga and Altamiro Flauzino – were condemned to respectively 24 and 25 years' imprisonment by the Cuiabá tribunal. Others have not been identified nor arrested.[21]

Some years after Ramin's death another Comboni priest from Padua, Pietro Settin, visited the area where Ramin was murdered, discovering that Adilio de Souza, the union leader who had been with Ramin on the day of his death, had become the owner of a piece of land. Settin theorized that he might have received it in exchange for betraying Ramin.[19]

Other activities

Ezechiele Ramin's main hobbies were cycling and playing football;[5] he also wrote poetry.[18] His numerous letters to his friends and family were collected and published in a volume edited by Ercole Ongaro and by Ramin's brother Fabiano, entitled Testimone della speranza – lettere dal 1971 al 1985 (Witness of Hope – Letters 1971 – 1985).[12] Several of them (in Italian) are publicly available.[25]

He also produced a considerable number of drawings, especially in charcoal, that were the subject of an exhibition held in 2010 in his native city of Padua, promoted by the local Comune (municipality) and organised by Maria Cristina Ferin, Federica Millozzi and Fabiano Ramin.[26] Several of them had already been collected in a book and published.[27]

He documented his experiences through photography.[28]

Tributes

Several initiatives in honour of Ezechiele Ramin are regularly held both in his native Padua and in Cacoal, mostly linked to promoting peaceful protest instead of armed revolution and to awakening the young people's awareness and interest in the missionary world.[29]

In 2005 – the twentieth anniversary of his death – he was remembered by Padua Archbishop Antonio Mattiazzo in an initiative about modern martyrs;[30] in the same year, a bronze sculpture by Ettore Grego in Ramin's memory was unveiled by Padua Mayor Flavio Zanonato in Piazza San Giuseppe, in front of the church Ramin used to frequent as a child and young man.[31]

Also in 2005, Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where Ramin studied, commissioned an icon bearing his image by the renowned icon painter Robert Lentz, who represented Ramin with a turtle dove to symbolise his belief in nonviolence.[20][32] The presence of a halo around Ramin's head is, however, improper according to the Catholic iconography, as Ramin has not been officially recognised as a Saint. Lentz, though, has often added halos to icons representing martyrs not conventionally recognised as saints, such as Albert Einstein,[33] César Chávez[34] and Heȟáka Sápa (Black Elk).[35]

In 2010 he and Sister Dorothy Stang were chosen by the Comboni missionaries in Brazil as symbols of the local people's struggle for land ownership.[36]

Besides a collection of his letters to friends and family,[12] three further books about Ramin's life have been published: Lele – creare primavera (Lele – Creating Spring), by Ezio Sorio,[37] Lele vive (Lele Is Alive), by Paulo Lima (2005),[38] and Ezechiele Ramin: la forza di una testimonianza (Ezechiele Ramin: the Strength of a Witness) by fellow Comboni missionary Giovanni Munari.[39]

In 1998 RAI, the Italian national television network, commissioned La casa bruciata, a TV movie inspired by his life. It was directed by Massimo Spano with a soundtrack by Ennio Morricone and featured Giulio Scarpati.[40]

In late 2011 a musical reading of selected passages from Ezechiele Ramin testimone della speranza. Lettere e scritti 1971 – 1985 was organized in Padova on Human Rights Day, with actor Andrea Pennacchi and the international "music collective" Luomodellazappa.[41]

Two Italian Comuni named a street after "Padre Ezechiele Ramin": Padua, the city of his birth,[42] and Rome.[43]

Cadoneghe, in the province of Padua, dedicated an auditorium to him[44] and Padua named a nursery school after him.[45] Again in Padua, the non-profit association Angoli di Mondo (Corners of the World) opened a public information centre, the Centro di Documentazione Ezechiele Ramin.[46]

The parish of Saint Richard of Andria in Andria (in Apulia) dedicated its meeting and recreation room to Ramin.[47]

In Brazil, in Picos (Piauí), the Angoli di Mondo association supported the building and activation of a day care centre for street children that was named after Ramin.[48]

Beatification cause

The Comboni missionaries are advancing the cause for Ramin's martyrdom (and therefore his status as a beatified.[49] Among the Comboni Missionary community in Latin America, it is said that "for them and the people who knew him, Ramin is already a saint".[50] He is considered a "witness of the faith".[51][52]

References

  1. Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Back to citation occurrence 1.2 Claudia Belleffi (2010). "Padre Lele, martire della carità" (in Italian). Diocesi di Padova. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  2. Back to citation occurrence 2.0 Back to citation occurrence 2.1 Back to citation occurrence 2.2 Back to citation occurrence 2.3 Back to citation occurrence 2.4 Piera Cori (July 13, 2010). "Ezechiele Ramin" (in Italian). Piera Cori – Alla Tua Presenza. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  3. Back to citation Mauro Barsi (June 16, 2005). "Una "carovana" dal Brasile per ricordare padre Ramin" (in Italian). Toscana Oggi. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  4. Back to citation "Rev. Ezechiele Ramin, Missionary Slain in Brazil". Chicago Tribune. November 21, 1985. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  5. Back to citation occurrence 5.0 Back to citation occurrence 5.1 Back to citation occurrence 5.2 Matteo Ramin (September 9, 2005). "Padre Ezechiele Ramin, una vita donata per i poveri" (in Italian). Regione Veneto. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  6. Back to citation occurrence 6.0 Back to citation occurrence 6.1 Back to citation occurrence 6.2 Back to citation occurrence 6.3 Back to citation occurrence 6.4 Ferin, Maria Cristina; Millozzi, Federica; Ramin, Fabiano (August 30, 2010). "Padre Ezechiele Ramin: Frammenti di un Mosaico" [Father Ezekiel Ramin: Fragments of a Mosaic] (Brochure) (in Italian). Comune of Padua. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  7. Back to citation Toni Mirà (November 25, 2010). "Padre Ezechiele Ramin, dall'Irpinia all'Amazzonia" (in Italian). Libera Informazione. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
  8. Back to citation Claudia Belleffi (2010). "Padre Lele, martire della carità" (in Italian). Diocesi di Padova. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2010; Piera Cori (July 13, 2010). "Ezechiele Ramin" (in Italian). Piera Cori – Alla Tua Presenza. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2011; Matteo Ramin (September 9, 2005). "Padre Ezechiele Ramin, una vita donata per i poveri" (in Italian). Regione Veneto. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2010; "La vita di Lele" (in Italian). Giovani e Missione. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  9. Back to citation "25 anniversary of the martyrdom of Fr. Ezechiele Ramin". Comboni Missionaries of United Kingdom and Ireland. 2010. Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  10. Back to citation Denise Zmekhol (August 21, 2003). "Children of the Amazon". Center for Latin American Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010; "An Urgent Plea from the Suruí (pg. 24)" (PDF). South and Meso American Indian Information Center. 1991. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010; James Kezar IV Hayes-Bohanan (1998). "Deforestation in Rondônia, Brazil: Frontier Urbanization and Landscape Change". Department of Geography and Regional Development, University of Arizona. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  11. Back to citation "La vita di Lele" (in Italian). Giovani e Missione. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  12. Back to citation occurrence 12.0 Back to citation occurrence 12.1 Back to citation occurrence 12.2 Ramin, Ezechiele (2000). Ongaro, Ercole; Ramin, Fabiano (eds.). Testimone della speranza: Lettere e scritti 1971–1985. Quarrata, Italy: Rete Radié Resch. ISBN 978-88-88610-03-0.
  13. Back to citation Diocese of Padua closure of the Brazilian inquiry — Official diocesan report on evidence gathered in Brazil and the canonical progress of Ramin's cause.
  14. Back to citation Comboni Missionaries on Ezechiele Ramin's cause — Official institute account documenting Ramin's ministry, death, and formal opening of the cause on 1 April 2016.
  15. Back to citation Claudia Belleffi. "Padre Lele, martire della carità" (in Italian). La Difesa del Popolo. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  16. Back to citation Padre Lorenzo Gaiga. "P. Ezechiele Ramin (1985)" (in Italian). Missionari Comboniani. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  17. Back to citation "P. Ezechiele Ramin" (in Italian). Agenzia Fides. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  18. Back to citation occurrence 18.0 Back to citation occurrence 18.1 Back to citation occurrence 18.2 "Ezechiele Ramin: 25 anni di memoria" (in Italian). Giovani e Missione. August 9, 2010. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  19. Back to citation occurrence 19.0 Back to citation occurrence 19.1 Claudia Belleffi. "Padre Lele, martire della carità" (in Italian). Diocesi di Padova. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  20. Back to citation occurrence 20.0 Back to citation occurrence 20.1 Kenneth O'Malley (2005). "Renowned iconographer Robert Lentz paints CTU martyr (pg 2)" (PDF). Catholic Theological Union. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  21. Back to citation occurrence 21.0 Back to citation occurrence 21.1 "Politica estera" (in Italian). La Repubblica. March 18, 1988. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  22. Back to citation Claudia Belleffi (2010). "Padre Lele, martire della carità" (in Italian). Diocesi di Padova. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2010; Mauro Barsi (June 16, 2005). "Una "carovana" dal Brasile per ricordare padre Ramin" (in Italian). Toscana Oggi. Retrieved September 30, 2010; "La vita di Lele" (in Italian). Giovani e Missione. Retrieved August 19, 2017; "P. Ezechiele Ramin" (in Italian). Agenzia Fides. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2010; "Ezechiele Ramin: 25 anni di memoria" (in Italian). Giovani e Missione. August 9, 2010. Retrieved September 30, 2010; "Ricordo di P. Ezechiele Ramin" (in Italian). Comboniani. July 24, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  23. Back to citation Giovanni Munari (2006). Ezechiele Ramin – La forza di una testimonianza (in Italian). Bologna: EMI. ISBN 978-88-307-1584-4. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  24. Back to citation Gilio Brunelli (1986). "Warfare in Polonoroeste". Cultural Survival, Inc. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  25. Back to citation "Le lettere di Lele" (in Italian). Giovani e Missione. September 7, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
  26. Back to citation "Padre Ezechiele Ramin: frammenti di un Mosaico" (in Italian). Archivio Pace Diritti Umani. September 16, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010; Ferin, Maria Cristina; Millozzi, Federica; Ramin, Fabiano (August 30, 2010). "Padre Ezechiele Ramin: Frammenti di un Mosaico" [Father Ezekiel Ramin: Fragments of a Mosaic] (Brochure) (in Italian). Comune of Padua. Retrieved August 19, 2017; dom Antonio Possamai (September 7, 2010). "Frammenti di un mosaico. Disegni di Padre Ezechiele Ramin" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  27. Back to citation Ezechiele Ramin (pub. Oct 2005), "Frammenti di un mosaico. Disegni", ed. Imprimenda, Limena (PD), ISBN 978-88-88610-08-5
  28. Back to citation dom Antonio Possamai (September 7, 2010). "Frammenti di un mosaico. Disegni di Padre Ezechiele Ramin" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  29. Back to citation "Fr. Ezechiele Ramin, "a troublesome witness"". Familia Comboniana. December 2005. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2010; "Memoria di P. Ezechiele Ramin" (in Italian). Familia Comboniana. May 2010. Retrieved September 30, 2010; "Serata in Memoria di padre Ezechiele Ramin" (in Italian). Padova News. April 7, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
  30. Back to citation "Fr. Ezechiele Ramin on the chair of the martyrs". Familia Comboniana. February 2005. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  31. Back to citation "Fr. Ezechiele Ramin, "a troublesome witness"". Familia Comboniana. December 2005. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  32. Back to citation "Ezechiele Ramin, MCCJ". Trinity Stores. 2005. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  33. Back to citation "Albert Einstein Scientist, Humanitarian, Mystic". Trinity Stores. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  34. Back to citation "Cesar Chavez". Trinity Stores. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  35. Back to citation "Black Elk". Trinity Stores. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  36. Back to citation "La Primavera di Ezechiele" (PDF) (in Italian). Nigrizia. July 28, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 13, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  37. Back to citation Ezio Sorio (1989), "Lele – creare primavera", ed. EMI, Bologna, ISBN 88-307-0221-8
  38. Back to citation Paulo Lima (2005), "Lele Vive", ed. EMI, Bologna, ISBN 978-88-307-1505-9
  39. Back to citation Giovanni Munari (2006), "Ezechiele Ramin: la forza di una testimonianza", ed. EMI, Bologna, ISBN 978-88-307-1584-4
  40. Back to citation "La casa bruciata" (in Italian). RAIUNO. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2010; "Rassegna cinematografica sul Brasile" (in Italian). Il Messaggero del CTP. 2003. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2010; "La casa bruciata". IMDb. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  41. Back to citation "Un reading dedicato a Ezechiele Ramin" (in Italian). AND – A Nordest Di che. December 10, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  42. Back to citation "Via Padre Ezechiele Ramin, Padua". Tuttocittà. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  43. Back to citation "Via Padre Ezechiele Ramin, Rome". Tuttocittà. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  44. Back to citation "Sale Comunali" (in Italian). Comune di Cadoneghe. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  45. Back to citation Massimo Paccagnella (September 30, 2010). "Padova: nuovo asilo-nido intitolato a padre Ramin" (in Italian). DgTvOnline. Archived from the original on July 9, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  46. Back to citation "Centro Documentazione E. Ramin (CeDocER)". Centro Documentazione E. Ramin (CeDocER). Archived from the original on May 12, 2006. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  47. Back to citation "Parrocchia San Riccardo di Andria – storia" (in Italian). Parrocchia San Riccardo di Andria. Archived from the original on February 5, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  48. Back to citation "Progetto per il centro diurno per bambini di strada "E. Ramin"" (in Italian). Angoli di Mondo. Archived from the original on May 3, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  49. Back to citation "1985 saints". Hagiography Circle. February 10, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  50. Back to citation Stefania Falasca; Davide Malacaria (October 2007). "The mission: simply being there". 30 Days. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  51. Back to citation Antonio Borrelli (February 17, 2006). "Padre Ezechiele Ramin Missionario Comboniano, martire" (in Italian). Santi Beati. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
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