One year after her canonization, the Church recalls the witness of Saint María Troncatti, a Salesian missionary who dedicated her life to serving the Shuar people in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Her legacy continues to inspire a Church with an Amazonian face, committed to the defense of life, the care of Creation, intercultural dialogue, and the building of peace.
October 19 marks the first anniversary of the canonization of Saint María Troncatti, a religious sister of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, whose missionary life left a profound mark on the Ecuadorian Amazon. Her recognition as a saint, celebrated on October 19, 2025, by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square, is a cause for joy, gratitude, and a renewal of the commitment to evangelization for the Ecuadorian Church, the Salesian Family, and the Amazonian communities.
Born on February 16, 1883, in Corteno Golgi, Italy, María Troncatti discovered her religious and missionary vocation at a young age, inspired by the charism of St. John Bosco and St. Mary Mazzarello. In 1922, she was sent as a missionary to Ecuador, where she dedicated her life to serving the indigenous peoples, especially the Shuar.
A Life Devoted to Serving the Amazonian Peoples
For decades, Sister María Troncatti carried out intensive work in healthcare, education, and evangelization in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Her service was marked by her closeness to the communities, her care for the sick, her support for families, and her work in the formation of women and young people.
Affectionately known as “madrecita,” she was distinguished by her sensitivity to human suffering and her defense of every person’s dignity. Her missionary presence also served as a bridge between the Shuar people and settlers, promoting dialogue, reconciliation, and peaceful coexistence amid the tensions and conflicts of her time.
Her witness demonstrates a way of proclaiming the Gospel that is characterized by closeness, listening, care, and service—a mission that recognizes the dignity of peoples, values their cultures, and accompanies their life journeys with respect and fraternity.
Saint María Troncatti died on August 25, 1969, in a plane crash in Sucúa, Ecuador—an Amazonian territory to which she dedicated her life and which she considered her spiritual homeland. Her remains rest in Macas, in the province of Morona Santiago.
A testimony that challenges the Church with an Amazonian face
For the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), the memory of Saint María Troncatti represents an invitation to renew the vocation of a missionary, synodal, and inculturated Church that walks alongside the Amazonian peoples and resolutely commits to defending life in all its dimensions.
Her missionary experience reminds us that evangelizing means accompanying communities in their concrete realities, recognizing the richness of their cultures, promoting just relationships, and working for a peace that arises from encounter, listening, and reconciliation.
In an Amazon region facing challenges related to the violation of its peoples’ rights, threats to their territories, and the deterioration of ecosystems, her legacy invites us to strengthen a pastoral ministry that cares for human life and our Common Home, and that is committed to the dignity of people and the future of new generations.
The life of Saint María Troncatti also reminds us that the inculturation of the Gospel requires a respectful and close presence, capable of recognizing God’s action in cultures and of building paths of fraternity through intercultural dialogue.
A Holiness That Renews Hope
The canonization of Saint María Troncatti was recognized by the Church following a journey of faith and discernment, which included the approval of a miracle attributed to her intercession. This fact, together with her witness of missionary dedication, has strengthened the devotion of those who find in her a model of trust in God, service, and hope.
On the first anniversary of her canonization, her life continues to call upon religious sisters, religious brothers, missionaries, and Christian communities to live a faith committed to the realities of the peoples and territories where the Church is present.
Her witness invites us to continue building a Church that listens, accompanies, and serves; that recognizes the wisdom of Indigenous peoples; that defends human dignity; that cares for Creation; and that works tirelessly for reconciliation.
Saint María Troncatti, intercede for the missionary and inculturated Church in the Amazon, so that our faith and our service may always be at the service of a life of dignity, the care of Creation, and the building of peace. May your witness inspire us to walk alongside the Amazonian peoples, sowing hope and fraternity.
Saint María Troncatti, missionary of the Amazon, pray for us!