Last night, Father Vinícius Maciel, SSCC, celebrated a Holy Mass of Thanksgiving at the Sanctuary of Health and Peace for Father Máximo Sada, SSCC. The Spanish priest was murdered on July 12, 1990, in Rio de Janeiro, while he was in a house to give a blessing, at which point robbers appeared to rob the residence.

During the celebration, Father Vinícius recalled the religious figure's journey, who left Spain as a missionary of the Sacred Hearts and lost his life as a true martyr to urban violence.

On a Thursday afternoon, a young woman requested a priest at the Nossa Senhora do Desterro Parish in Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro, to bless the new installations in her house. Father Máximo went to the house accompanied by the priests' cook. Upon arriving at the family's residence, they were surprised by the presence of robbers who had already subdued the construction workers and were arguing with the young woman. When she stated that she recognized them, they responded that she would be killed. Father Máximo, the peacemaker, defended the young woman, trying to dissuade them. Realizing that one of them was about to fire his weapon, Father Máximo threw himself in front of the victim and received the fatal shot. The robbers fled through the back. The young woman, with the help of a neighbor, provided assistance, dragging the priest to the car and taking him to the Rocha Faria Hospital, where he arrived dead.

Currently, there is a popular appeal for the Church to recognize the martyrdom of Father Maximus, a case that may be studied by the Ecclesiastical Tribunal and the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts.

In Rio de Janeiro

Also yesterday, at the Campo Grande Cemetery in Rio de Janeiro, priests of the Sacred Hearts and lay people from the local community gathered around the tomb of Father Máximo Sada in a liturgical act. Father João Lucas, SSCC, Father Vítor Borges, SSCC, and Father Ricardo, SSCC, gave thanks to the Lord for the life of the Spanish priest and for his mission here on earth.

Father Máximo Sada, SSCC

Father Máximo Sada Rodeles, ss.cc, was born in Olite – Navarre, Spain, on September 3, 1919. He was baptized with the name Miguel. He entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts at a very young age and began his novitiate during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Because of the war, his novitiate was interrupted and only resumed after its end.

He professed his religious vows in El Escorial on October 12, 1940. In religious life, he adopted the name of his father, Máximo. He completed his studies in Philosophy and Theology in Miranda de Ebro, Burgos. He was ordained in 1946, while in his fourth year of Theology studies, close to Easter. After finishing, he spent a short time at the Sacred Hearts College in Madrid. In 1947, he was sent as a missionary to Brazil.

His first mission was at the Nossa Senhora do Desterro parish in Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, as a parish vicar. In 1954 he was appointed superior and parish priest of the Sagrados Corações Parish in Tijuca, in addition to being a councilor of the Pro-Province.

In 1960 he returned to Campo Grande as Parish Priest. In the following years he served in various missions of the Congregation: the São José dos Pinhais Seminary and the Hugo Lange Church in Curitiba, Paraná. From there he went to the Santa Margarida Maria Parish, in Vila Mariana in the city of São Paulo.

In the late 1980s, he returned to the Parish of Our Lady of Exile in Rio, where he ministered his missionary gifts until he was murdered during a robbery. His brother in the community and fellow countryman, Fr. Rafael Azanza, ss.cc, was tasked with informing his family and superiors in Spain of his death. Upon being informed of what had happened, his religious sister serenely stated: “Thank God! We have a martyr in the family.”.

The day after the assassination, on the 13th, the funeral mass and the procession of the coffin in a fire truck turned into a moving demonstration by thousands of faithful and friends. The mass was presided over by Cardinal Dom Eugênio Sales, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, and concelebrated by a large number of priests from the Congregation and the Archdiocese.

In Campo Grande, as in Tijuca, among his brothers and sisters of the Sacred Hearts, the witness of Father Máximo remains alive. He will always be remembered for his generous death, his kindness, zeal, and apostolic dedication.