Thirty-five years after two Polish Conventual Franciscan missionaries were killed by Peru’s Maoist Shining Path guerrillas, their witness continues to inspire Catholics to remain faithful in serving others despite danger.
Fathers Michal Tomaszek and Zbigniew Strzalkowski were abducted and executed 9 August, 1991, after choosing to stay with the people of Pariacoto during a wave of terrorist violence.
Beatified as martyrs in 2015, they are remembered for living the Gospel through closeness to the poor rather than comfort or privilege. Their surviving confrere, Father Jaroslaw Wysoczanski, now serving migrants in El Paso, told OSV News the missionaries consciously refused to abandon their flock, believing “a good shepherd does not abandon his flock when danger comes.”
He said their courage flowed from prayer and a deep relationship with Christ. “They preached peace in a time of violence, taught people to pray the rosary, shared bread with the hungry and witnessed through their lives that God has a special love for the poor,” recalled Father Wysoczanski.
Pope Leo XIV, who served for decades in Peru, has also highlighted the country’s modern martyrs as enduring examples of missionary faithfulness and hope.
