The intensity of his religious life, his missionary and pastoral zeal and in particular his concern for the sick and abandoned impressed all who knew him. It was in Palawan that he first contracted the malaria that would accompany him around the world adding a new mortification to the austere asceticism he already practised. After five years’ pastoral work in Manila Ezekiel was appointed prior of the novitiate house back in Spain. He got to Monteagudo shortly before a cholera epidemic struck town and monastery. Soon afterwards it would be smallpox, then near famine conditions of extreme poverty. Ezekiel again made care of the sick and needy his priority. It is said that up to 500 sick and hungry people could arrive at the priory on many days to be given what help could be provided by Ezekiel and his community. At the same time he was anxious to deepen the religious life of all his friars and he readily cooperated in the pastoral and devotional life of the neighbouring parishes where his work in pulpit and confessional was particularly appreciated.
In 1888 Ezekiel volunteered to lead a small group of Spanish friars in an attempt to revive the once thriving Recollect province in Colombia with its now neglected mission territory of Casanare. It was no easy task. First it was necessary to try to restore a community religious life among the small number of Colombian friars who remained active in the pastoral ministry. A novitiate was re-established and the pastoral ministry was enhanced due in no small part to the long hours Ezekiel himself spent in pulpit, confessional and the care of the sick. Eventually it was possible to think of the missions in remote and neglected Casanare in the east of the country near the border with Venezuela. Here there was great poverty, material and spiritual, in a vast territory with poor communications and hardly any clergy. The effect of the first visit of Ezekiel and three companions of his Order in 1891 was a blossoming of interest in the needs of Cesanare both in the Order and in church and state in Colombia. An apostolic vicariate was created to meet these needs. Despite his humility and reluctance Ezekiel was the obvious candidate for bishop though only a direct order from his superior general in Spain would convince him to accept. It took him over a month by mule to reach the small town of Tamara where a small, mud-floored church was to be his cathedral.
Conscious of the vast needs and minimal resources of his vicariate he consecrated it to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in whom he placed all his trust. Once the long rainy season was over he set out, again by mule and often practically alone, to visit his far-flung territory to preach, instruct and administer the sacraments in towns, villages and settlements that had not seen a priest for years. Before his first visitation could be completed revolution broke out and the bishop found himself facing a new difficulty in dealing with anti-church rebel groups. Early in 1895 Ezekiel, now well known for his personal sanctity and pastoral dedication, was appointed bishop of Pasto in the far south of Colombia on the border with Ecuador. He left Casanare with some sadness but total obedience to the call of the Church.
A priest who met him on his way to Bogota mentioned that his only luggage appeared to be his breviary. Pasto was a more established diocese but it too was vast, with poor communications and few clergy. His life there would be characterised by the same dedication to duty in the service of the Church and for the salvation of souls, the only thing that mattered to him. His personal asceticism continued to impress all who got to know him well. Unfortunately, for Ezekiel in Pasto in the historical circumstances of the time his total commitment to duty and the care of souls would lead to much opposition, misunderstanding and suffering. Again he would find himself caught up in revolutions and civil war. He soon became the Columbian Church’s leading opponent of the liberalism then influencing the country and in his view putting souls at serious risk to their eternal salvation.
On a visit to Rome he even proffered his resignation to Pope Leo XIII if, as was suggested, this might bring unity and peace in the country. The offer was not accepted. To us today his views might seem dated and extreme, but they were based on the theological thinking of the time, especially papal teaching and his understanding of the role of the bishop in safeguarding the welfare of souls as the ultimate value. The name of his diocesan paper, «The Catholic Champion», possibly best expresses the role he felt obliged to play in the tangled politics of turn-of-the-century Colombia.
There were attempts to have him removed from office, even attempts on his life but the local Church in the main supported and valued his stance. Ezekiel survived all these problems. The one he could not survive was of a different nature and even more painful. In 1905 he started to show the first signs of the cancer of nose and throat that would rapidly become his private and final way of the cross. The doctors in Pasto lacked the necessary instruments for thorough examination and treatment. He was resigned to God’s will but his clergy insisted he go to Spain for treatment.
Early in 1906 he underwent an extremely painful operation, much of it having to be done without anaesthetic, in Madrid with a second a month later. The doctors would later testify to their amazement at his patient acceptance of such extreme suffering. The operations were not successful and his condition continued to deteriorate, with hearing and speech badly effected. Knowing that he would soon die Ezekiel asked to be moved to the Order’s house in Monteagudo where he made his religious profession and where he had been prior. Arriving in Monteagudo on 1st June 1906 he chose a small room near the chapel with a gallery from which he could look down on the sanctuary with the tabernacle and the statue of Our Lady of the Way to whom he had always been particularly devoted.
From 19th June he was confined to bed as the cancer got worse, taking over more and more of the brain, his eyesight failing too, the terrible suffering increasing for the final two months of his life. He received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and heard Mass every day in his room. He is eventually unable to communicate with anyone and his thoughts seem all for the next life. His silent sermon is all about resignation and complete acceptance of God’s will. Food, eventually even water, became impossible to take. It took half an hour to administer the Viaticum. Ezekiel died peacefully at half past eight on the morning of 19th August 1906. He was 58. Much suffering had been crammed into those years, all patiently accepted and offered up. Ezekiel Moreno had died a martyr in all but name.
Three days later his body was interred in the priory chapel. Devotion grew and the cause of beatification was introduced. He was declared blessed by Pope Paul VI on 1st November 1975. He was canonised by Pope John Paul II in Santo Domingo on 11th October 1992 during the papal visit to mark the 5th centenary of the evangelization of the Americas. Devotion to St Ezekiel has spread especially in Columbia and among cancer sufferers. His remains now rest in a new chapel in the monastery of Our Lady of the Way in Monteagudo, Navarra, Spain.
