On Saturday, June 24, 2023, the Church of San Jerónimo in Gualaco, Olancho Department, Honduras. celebrated the 48th anniversary of the day that Friar Casimir CYPHER generously offered up his life. Friar Casimir was killed on June 25, 1975, in Olancho.
This anniversary event was celebrated with various religious and popular activities. Those attending included many local parishioners, visitors and acquaintances, led by Friar Javier E. GUERRA.
Prior to these activities, a conference was held on the status of the preliminary diocesan process for the cause of the beatification of Friar Casimir, which is currently ongoing. The conference took place in the studio of Radio Católica in Olancho.
The anniversary celebration was connected with various goals, such as revitalizing the historical memory of the Church’s witness and mission in times of persecution, examining Friar Casimir’s life from a historical perspective, and giving thanks for the generous offering of himself, a sacrifice which is still alive in the heart of the pilgrim Church in Olancho.
The Mass was presided over by Father Juan Gabriel RAMÍREZ, the Pastor of the church in Gualaco, where Friar Casimir’s remains are interred. During his homily, Father Juan Gabriel spoke about the virtues and witness of Friar Casimir and how we should imitate him. He also stressed the importance of giving oneself to others, even to the point of offering one’s life, and he referred to a homily that Friar Casimir preached to the Poor Clares in Rockford, Illinois, USA, on August 9, 1970.
The participants showed their solidarity with the beatification process by displaying an enlarged photo of Friar Casimir and listening to some historical facts about Friar Casimir’s life and mission. They also visited the mausoleum where his mortal remains repose and laid some flower arrangements there.
All during Sunday, June 25, the parishes throughout the Diocese of Juticalpa gratefully commemorated the life of Friar Casimir and the others who died with him.
The preliminary diocesan process for the cause of the beatification continues to gather documentary and testimonial evidence, noting his martyrdom and the growing fame of holiness that he enjoys among the faithful of the Church in Honduras.
Friar Juan Alonzo PAGOADA ACOSTA, Vice Postulator
