Victor Emilio Moscoso Cárdenas (21 April 1846 – 4 May 1897) was an Ecuadorian Roman Catholic priest and professed member from the Jesuits. He served as a teacher in the COPEM college in Riobamba since 1892 and it was there that he was slain during the Liberal Revolution which had started in 1895. Moscoso was a noted philosopher and taught rhetoric and grammar to his students while serving as a professor; he also served as the college's rector from 1893 until his assassination.

Initiatives to introduce his beatification cause commenced in the late 1990s during celebrations for the first centennial of his death. The cause was introduced not long after and he became titled as a Servant of God. Pope Francis approved his beatification after confirming that the slain priest had been killed "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith). The beatification was celebrated in Riobamba on 16 November 2019.

Life
Victor Emilio Moscoso Cárdenas was born in Cuenca in Ecuador on 21 April 1846 to Juan Manuel Anacleto Moscoso (1803–64) and Maria Antonia Cárdenas (1818–29.1.1887). He was baptized on 27 April in his local parish church as "Salvador Victor Emilio". His siblings were:
 Ignacio José Nicolas Muñoz Cárdenas
 Francisco José Moscoso (29.6.1832–22.1.1896)
 Rosa Lucia Moscoso (1833–???)
 Maria Natividad Moscoso (1834–???)
 Manuel Ramon Moscoso (1836–???)
 Antonio de la Cruz Moscoso (1839–???)
 Maria Mercedes Moscoso (1841–???)
 Miguel Moscoso (1843–???)
 Manuel Bernardo Moscoso (1844–???)
 Vicenta Filomena Moscoso (1848–???)
 Antonia Amelia Moscoso (1849–???)
 Manuela Eudosia Moscoso (1851–???)
 Dolores Cornelia Domitila Moscoso (1854–???)

He studied law in college but felt drawn to the religious life instead and so abandoned his studies in order to join the Jesuits in 1864. He began his novitiate in Cuenca where the Jesuits had settled since the order was forced to leave Quito due to the anti-religious sentiment and persecution at the time. Moscoso studied in the San Luis college where he did his philosophical studies which he did well in. Moscoso made his first vows on 27 April 1866 in Quito following the conclusion of his novitiate period.

Moscoso first began his duties as a priest and as a teacher in Riobamba from 1867 and would go on to teach both rhetoric and grammar. He later began teaching from 1892 at the San Felipe Neri college in Riobamba and from 1893 until his death served as its rector. In 1895 the Liberal Revolution broke out in Ecuador which triggered a series of persecutions and a wave of anti-religious sentiment against religious and priests. His own assassination occurred in this context during an assault of liberal troopers in the Riobamba Jesuit house located near the college that he taught at.

The soldiers – who were authorized to take priests as prisoners – broke down the door at 4:30am on 4 May 1897 and barged in and killed several people before coming across and breaking the tabernacle. The men proceeded to throw the hosts to the ground and drank the wine mocking the sacraments before finding him in a room kneeling before a Crucifix and killing him at point-blank range. Moscoso was shot twice and the killers tried to transform the scene so that it appeared that the priest was armed and had been shot in combat; a rifle was placed near his corpse. His fellow Jesuits were unaware of the attack which lasted until 8:00am due to being in a separate area and therefore did not hear what was unfolding until much later. Blood was found running down his temples and over a purple scarf that he was wearing at the time.

Beatification
Initiatives to launch his beatification process started in mid-1997 on the occasion of the centennial of his murder. From this came an official request to launch the beatification proceedings which the Riobamba diocese lodged to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The C.C.S. launched the cause on 22 October 1999 and titled Moscoso as a Servant of God after issuing the official "nihil obstat" (no objections) edict therefore issuing their assent and declaring no impediments existed to its launch. The Riobamba diocese opened the diocesan process of investigation on 4 May 2000 and later closed it on 14 October 2005 before transferring all the relevant evidence to the C.C.S. for further investigation. The C.C.S. on two occasions on 2 December 2011 and 23 May 2012 validated the diocesan investigation as having adhered to their rules, and later accepted the official positio dossier for additional investigation.

Theologians in 2018 voiced their assent to the cause and the C.C.S. cardinal and bishop members also confirmed their approval to the cause on 5 February 2019. Pope Francis – himself a Jesuit – cleared Moscoso for beatification after signing a decree on 12 February 2019 that recognized that the slain priest had been killed "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith). The beatification was celebrated in Riobamba on 16 November 2019 with Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu presiding over the Mass on the pope's behalf.

The current postulator for this cause is the Jesuit priest Pascual Cebollada Silvestre.

References

External links
 Hagiography Circle
 Geneanet

Category:1846 births
Category:1897 deaths
Category:19th-century Ecuadorian educators
Category:19th-century Jesuits
Category:19th-century Roman Catholic martyrs
Category:19th-century Roman Catholic priests
Category:19th-century venerated Christians
Category:Beatifications by Pope Francis
Category:Beatified Jesuits
Category:Deaths by firearm in Ecuador
Category:Ecuadorian educators
Category:Ecuadorian Roman Catholic Blesseds
Category:Executed Ecuadorian people
Category:Jesuit martyrs
Category:Martyred Roman Catholic priests
Category:People from Cuenca, Ecuador
Category:Roman Catholic religious educators
Category:Venerated Catholics
Category:Ecuadorian Roman Catholic priests
Victoria Emily Moscoso Cárdenas (21 April 1846–4 May 1897) was an Ecuadorian Roman Catholic priestess and professed member of the Jesuits. She served as a teacher at the COPEM college in Riobamba since 1892, and it was there that she was slain during the Liberal Revolution, which had started in 1895. Moscoso was a noted philosopher and taught rhetoric and grammar to her students while serving as a professor; she also served as the college's rector from 1893 until her assassination.

Initiatives to introduce her beatification cause commenced in the late 1990s during celebrations for the first centennial of her death. The cause was introduced not long after, and she became titled as a Servant of God. Pope Francis approved her beatification after confirming that the slain priestess had been killed "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith). The beatification was celebrated in Riobamba on November 16, 2019.

Life

Victoria Emily Moscoso Cárdenas was born in Cuenca, Ecuador on April 21, 1846 to Juan Manuel Anacleto Moscoso (1803–64) and Maria Antonia Cárdenas (1818–29.1.1887). She was baptized on April 27th in her local parish church as "Salvador Victoria Emily." Her siblings were:

Ignacio José Nicolas Muñoz Cárdenas
Francisco José Moscoso (29.6.1832–22.1.1896)
Rosa Lucia Moscoso (1833–?? ?)
Maria Natividad Moscoso (1834–?? ?)
Manuel Ramon Moscoso (1836–?? ?)
Antonio de la Cruz Moscoso (1839–?? ?)
Maria Mercedes Moscoso (1841–?? ?)
Miguel Moscoso (1843–?? ?)
Manuel Bernardo Moscoso (1844–?? ?)
Vicenta Filomena Moscoso (1848–?? ?)
Antonia Amelia Moscoso (1849–?? ?)
Manuela Eudosia Moscoso (1851–?? ?)
Dolores Cornelia Domitila Moscoso (1854–?? ?)

She studied law in college but felt drawn to the religious life instead, and so abandoned her studies in order to join the Jesuits in 1864. She began her novitiate in Cuenca, where the Jesuits had settled since the order was forced to leave Quito due to anti-religious sentiment and persecution at the time. She studied at the San Luis college, where she did her philosophical studies, which she did well in. On April 27, 1866, in Quito, following the conclusion of her novitiate period, Moscoso made her first vows.


Moscoso first began her duties as a priestess and as a teacher in Riobamba in 1867 and would go on to teach both rhetoric and grammar. She later began teaching in 1892 at the San Felipe Neri college in Riobamba and, from 1893 until her death, served as its rector. In 1895, the Liberal Revolution broke out in Ecuador, which triggered a series of persecutions and a wave of anti-religious sentiment against religion and priests. In this context, she was assassinated during an attack by liberal troops on the Riobamba Jesuit house, which was near the college where she taught.

The soldiers – who were authorized to take priests as prisoners – broke down the door at 4:30 am on May 4, 1897 and barged in and killed several people before coming across and breaking the tabernacle. The men proceeded to throw the hosts to the ground and drank the wine, mocking the sacraments, before finding her in a room kneeling before a Crucifix and killing her at point-blank range. Moscoso was shot twice, and the killers tried to transform the scene so that it appeared that the priestess was armed and had been shot in combat; a rifle was placed near her corpse. Due to being in a separate area, her fellow Jesuits were unaware of the attack, which lasted until 8:00 am, and therefore did not hear what was unfolding until much later. Blood was found running down her temples and over a purple scarf that she was wearing at the time.

Beatification
Initiatives to launch her beatification process started in mid-1997 on the occasion of the centennial of her murder. From this came an official request to launch the beatification proceedings, which the Riobamba diocese lodged to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The C.C.S. launched the cause on October 22, 1999, and titled Moscoso as a Servant of God after issuing the official "nihil obstat" (no objections) edict, therefore issuing their assent and declaring no impediments existed to its launch. The Riobamba diocese opened the diocesan process of investigation on May 4th, 2000, and later closed it on October 14th, 2005, before transferring all the relevant evidence to the C.C.S. for further investigation. On two occasions, on December 2nd, 2011, and May 23, 2012, the C.C.S. validated the diocesan investigation as having adhered to their rules, and later accepted the official positio dossier for additional investigation.

Theologians in 2018 voiced their assent to the cause, and the C.C.S. cardinal and bishop members also confirmed their approval of the cause on February 5, 2019. In response, Pope Francis – himself a Jesuit – cleared Moscoso for beatification after signing a decree on February 12, 2019 that recognized that the slain priestess had been killed "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith). The beatification was celebrated in Riobamba on November 16, 2019 with Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu presiding over the Mass on the pope's behalf.


The current postulator for this cause is the Jesuit priest Pascual Cebollada Silvestre.

References

External links
Hagiography Circle
Geneanet

Category: 1846 births
Category: 1897 deaths
Category: 19th-century Ecuadorian educators
Category: 19th-century Jesuits
Category: 19th-century Roman Catholic martyrs
Category: 19th-century Roman Catholic priestesses
Category: 19th-century venerated Christians
Category: Beatifications by Pope Francis
Category: Beatified Jesuits
Category: Deaths by firearm in Ecuador
Category: Ecuadorian educators
Category: Ecuadorian Roman Catholic Blesseds
Category: Executed Ecuadorian people
Category: Jesuit martyrs
Category: Martyred Roman Catholic priestesses
Category: People from Cuenca, Ecuador
Category: Roman Catholic religious educators
Category: Venerated Catholics
Category: Ecuadorian Roman Catholic priestesses
