Adílio Daronch

In Nonoai, Adílio attended the school founded by the parish priest, Father Manuel Gómez González, a Spanish missionary priest who arrived in Brazil in 1913. After making his first communion, Adílio became a particularly devoted altar server (coroinha). He regularly assisted Father Manuel during liturgical celebrations and frequently accompanied him on his long and exhausting pastoral visits, including to the indigenous Kaingang populations.

At that time, Rio Grande do Sul was going through a period of strong political instability and armed violence, following the revolution of 1923. In the spring of 1924, the Bishop of Santa Maria, Msgr. Ático Eusébio da Rocha, asked Father Manuel to go to the forest of Três Passos to visit settlers of German origin who were awaiting the sacraments. Despite the risks linked to the revolutionary movements in the region, the priest accepted the mission and set off accompanied by Adílio.

On the way, they stopped in Palmeira das Missões, where Father Manuel administered the sacraments and exhorted the local revolutionaries to peace and mutual respect in the name of their common Christian faith. He also gave a Christian burial to the victims of the clashes. These actions strongly displeased the anticlerical extremists of the region.

On May 20, 1924, as they continued their journey, inhabitants tried to dissuade them from going deep into the forest. However, they accepted the help of soldiers who offered to escort them to Três Passos. It was actually a trap. The two missionaries were led to a remote area of the forest, in Feijão Miúdo. The next day, May 21, 1924, they were tied to two trees and shot by the soldiers out of hatred for the Christian faith and the Catholic Church. Adílio died a martyr at the age of 15 alongside his parish priest.

The reputation of martyrdom of Adílio Daronch and Father Manuel Gómez González spread immediately among the faithful. The place of their death quickly became a center of devotion and pilgrimage. Their mortal remains were exhumed in 1964 and solemnly transferred to the parish church of Nonoai, near the sanctuary of Our Lady of Light (Nossa Senhora da Luz).

The cause for beatification was officially introduced in the late 1980s by the Bishop of Frederico Westphalen, Msgr. Bruno Maldaner. The diocesan process took place between 1996 and 1997, after obtaining the nihil obstat from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on March 29, 1996. On December 16, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI signed the decree officially recognizing their martyrdom, thus opening the way for their beatification without a miracle being required.

The beatification ceremony for Adílio Daronch and Father Manuel Gómez González was celebrated on October 21, 2007, at the municipal exhibition park of Frederico Westphalen, in Brazil. It was presided over by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Benedict XVI. Adílio Daronch is the first inhabitant of Rio Grande do Sul (gaúcho) and the first altar server in the world to be beatified.

His liturgical feast is set for May 21, the day of his birth into Heaven. In 2012, by decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship, the two blesseds were declared patrons of the Diocese of Frederico Westphalen. Furthermore, Adílio Daronch was named co-patron of the World Youth Day (WYD) in Rio de Janeiro in 2013.

The spirituality of Blessed Adílio Daronch is characterized by his Eucharistic fidelity, his devotion to the service of the altar, and his heroic courage. Although very young, he chose not to abandon his pastor in the face of the danger of death, testifying to an exceptional spiritual maturity. His example is proposed to the universal Church, and particularly to young people, as a model of uncompromising Christian commitment. He is today venerated as the patron of altar servers, acolytes, and choir boys in Brazil, inspiring many young people to serve God with joy and fidelity.