Faustino Villanueva Villanueva
Missionary of the Sacred Heart, martyr in Guatemala
Who they were
Born at Yesa, near Pamplona in Spain, on 15 January 1931, he made his first profession in the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in 1949 and was ordained priest on 25 February 1956; sent to Guatemala, he served in several parishes of the diocese of Quiché and above all at Our Lady of the Assumption in Joyabaj, where he was shot at close range in the parish office on 10 July 1980. Pope Francis beatified him with José María Gran Cirera and his nine companions on 23 April 2021.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
The decree on martyrdom records that he was killed in hatred of his mission, in the parish office at Joyabaj.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Acta Apostolicae Sedis 112 (2020), p. 1129 - decree on martyrdom
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - giuseppe-maria-gran-cirera-e-compagni
- Roman Martyrology, 1 September (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - beatifications of 23 April 2021
- Wikidata Q103916302 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.