Bl. Mamerto Esquiú

Mamerto Esquiú was born in 1826 at Piedra Blanca in Catamarca province, Argentina. Because of a vow his mother made, he wore a Franciscan habit from the age of five. He joined the Franciscans and was ordained a priest in 1848.

He became famous as a preacher with a sermon in 1853 celebrating Argentina's new constitution. He served two terms in Catamarca's legislature, wrote for newspapers and founded one, and worked as a missionary in Bolivia.

In 1880 he became Bishop of Córdoba. He travelled his diocese, helped the poor and improved the seminary. Taken ill on a journey, he died at the post station of El Suncho in 1883. He was beatified in 2021.

Mamerto Esquiú was beatified in 2021.

Beatification allows public veneration, usually in a particular region or religious family. Canonization extends it to the whole Church.