Cause of Fr. Luis Bolla, SDB, Moves Forward

“Yánkuam’ Jintia,” the Star of the Forest, on His Way to the Altar

(ANS – Lima, Peru – May 28, 2025) – A story of silent holiness, woven between the rivers, the forest, and the indigenous faces of the Amazon – in,Ecuador and, above all, in Peru over the last 30 years – is approaching a new dawn. On May 30, the diocesan phase of the process of beatification and canonization of the Servant of God Fr. Luis Bolla, known to the Achuar people as “Yánkuam’ Jintia,” “the star that lights the way,” will conclude in Lima.

The closing session will take place at the archbishop’s palace in Lima. Presided over by Cardinal Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio, archbishop of Lima, it will also be attended by the postulator general of the Salesian Congregation, Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, SDB, and his collaborator, Fr. Gabriel Cruz, SDB, who have come specially from Rome.

Members of the diocesan tribunal also will be present: Fr. Sandro Gabriele Carbone, delegate of the Archbishop; Fr. Edwin Limas Falcon, OSJ, promoter of justice; and Notary Fr. Manuel Ernesto Zegarra Basurco. All have zealously and rigorously followed up the collection of testimonies, documents, and reports of graces and signs related to the life and virtues of Fr. Bolla.

The cause was officially introduced on September 27, 2021, with the issuance of the edict by the archbishop of Lima. Since then, the process has faced many challenges. In the midst of the pandemic, with the restrictions imposed by the health situation and the dispersion of witnesses – many of whom live in the depths of the Amazon or in places that are difficult to reach – a strategy of remote interviews was adopted, with the necessary authorization from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

Born in Schio (Vicenza), Italy, in 1932, Luigi Bolla professed as a Salesian and was ordained with a single desire: to give his life to the missions. He heard the voice of God when he was only 11 years old: “You will be a priest.” This desire was fulfilled in the forest on the border between Peru and Ecuador, where he lived for over 50 years among the Shuar and Achuar peoples. He was not a passing evangelizer: he learned the language, adopted the customs, travelled long distances along tracks and rivers, and above all loved the indigenous people, proclaiming the message of the Gospel in an original way.

His death in Lima in 2013 left an indelible mark. Today, his figure is re-emerging with force, not out of nostalgia, but out of recognition of a life that defies oblivion.

With the conclusion of this diocesan phase, all the documentation collected will be sent to Rome, where, after the diocesan inquiry has been validated, the Positio will be drafted with a view to recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God.

For many, the name Yánkuam’ Jintia is not only a living memory but a prophecy in progress. The star that illuminated the Achuar forest may soon shine in the firmament of the saints of the Church.