Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War
Encyclopedia
Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War is the name given by the Catholic Church to the people who were killed by Republicans during the war because of their faith. As of July 2008, almost one thousand Spanish martyrs have been beatified or canonized. For some two thousand additional martyrs, the beatification process is underway.
of 1936-1939, and especially in the early months of the conflict, individual clergymen and entire religious communities were executed, with a death toll of 13 bishops, 4,172 diocesan priests and seminarists, 2,364 monks and friars and 283 nuns, for a total of 6,832 clerical victims, as part of what is referred to as Spain
's Red Terror
.
beatified a total of about 500 martyrs in the years 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2001. Some 233 executed clergy were beatified by John Paul II on the 11th of March 2001. Regarding the selection of Candidates, Archbishop Edward Novack from the Congregation of Saints explained in an interview with L'Osservatore Romano
: "Ideologies such as Nazism or Communism serve as a context of martyrdom, but in the foreground the person stands out with his conduct, and, case by case, it is important that the people among whom the person lived should affirm and recognize his fame as a martyr and then pray to him, obtaining graces. It is not so much ideologies that concern us, as the sense of faith of the People of God, who judge the person's behaviour
The beatification process recognized the extraordinary fate and often brutal death of the persons involved. Some have criticized the beatifications as dishonoring non-clergy who were also killed in the war, and as being an attempt to draw attention away from the church's support of Franco (some quarters of the Church called the Nationalist cause a "crusade"). Within Spain, the Civil War still raises high emotions. The act of beatification has also coincided in time with the debate on the Law of Historical Memory (about the treatment of the victims of the war and its aftermath) promoted by the Spanish Government.
Responding to the criticism, the Vatican has described the October 2007 beatifications as relating to personal virtues and holiness, not ideology. They are not about "resentment but... reconciliation". The Spanish government has supported the beatifications, sending Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos
to attend the ceremony.
Among the present was Juan Andrés Torres Mora, a relative of one of the martyrs and the Spanish MP who had debated the memory law for PSOE
.
The October 2007 beatifications have brought the number of martyred persons beatified by the Church to 977, eleven of whom have already been canonized as Saints. Because of the extent of the persecution, many more cases could be proposed; as many as 10,000 according to Catholic Church sources. The process for beatification has already been initiated for about 2,000 people.
At the October 28, 2007 beatifications, Pope Benedict underscored the call to sanctity for all Christians, saying it was "realistic possibility for the entire Christian people". He also noted, "This martyrdom in ordinary life is an important witness in today's secularized society."
They were a group of priests and brothers of the Passionist
Congregation killed by Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War
. They were beatified by Pope John Paul II
on October 1, 1989. Eye-witnesses reported that all of the Passionists had forgiven their murderers before they died. A witness to the murder of Father Niceforo reported that after being shot the priest turned his eyes to heaven then turned and smiled at his murderers. At this point one of them, now more infuriated than ever, shouted:
born Emanuele Canoura Arnau, was a member of the Passionist
Congregation and martyr of the Spanish Civil War
, born on March 10, 1887 in Santa Cecelia del Valle de Oro in Galicia, Spain
; died October 9, 1934. Canonised by Pope John Paul II
in 1999.
(Jose Maria of Manila) was born on September 5, 1880 in Manila, Philippines. He was a Franciscan Capuchin priest. He died a martyr on August 17, 1936 in Madrid, Spain during the Spanish civil war. He is venerated in the Catholic Church, which celebrate his Feast on August 17.
in 1914. He was arrested as a Catholic
leader—he was the secretary of Catholic Action
and a delegate to the Catholic Syndicates—on Aug. 18, 1936. He was executed on Oct. 2, 1936, at age 21, while he cried out, “Long live Christ the King
!" Born in Pozoblanco 25 November 1914, Bartolome was orphaned as a child, and raised by family with whom he worked. He was an excellent student, studying under the tutelage of the Salesians.
. It supported and was strongly supported by and associated with the Spanish monarchy and the system of privileges for a small aristocratic elite. However at the same time, even in military and conservative circles anti-clericism began to gain ground, partly as a reaction to the Carlist wars, and partly due to the feeling that anti-Enlightenment
religious dogma was responsible for Spain's failure to develop and imperial decline
.
The Second Spanish Republic
saw an alternation of progressive and conservative coalition governments between 1931 and 1936.
Amidst the disorder caused by the military coup of July 1936, many supporters of the legitimate (Republican) government pointed their weapons against individuals they considered local reactionaries, including priests and nuns.
A paradoxic case for foreign Catholics was that of the Basque Nationalist Party
, at the time a Catholic party from the Basque areas, who after some hesitation, supported the Republican government in exchange for an autonomous government
in the Basque Country. Although, virtually every other group on the Republican side was involved in the anticlerical persecution, the Basques did not play a part. The Vatican diplomacy tried to orient them to the National side, explicitly supported by Cardinal Isidro Goma y Tomas, but the BNP feared the centralism of the Nationals. Some Catalan nationalist
also found themselves in the same situation, such as members of de Unió Democràtica de Catalunya party whose most relevant leader, Manuel Carrasco i Formiguera was killed by the Nationalists in Burgos
on 1938.
One of the most notable of these has centred around Cruz Laplana y Laguna, bishop of Cuenca, a well-known supporter of the monarchic regime, who since the proclamation of the Second Republic had carried out a number of political, pro right-wing campaigns throughout the province, and had established close contacts with military officials such as general Joaquín Fanjul, a supporter of Francisco Franco
's coup. The bishop of Cuenca is described by his biographer as "supreme advisor" to the general, as well as being closely involved with the Falange
. In 1936 he personally endorsed José Antonio Primo de Rivera
, the leader of this party, as a candidate to the 1936 local elections. When the pro-coup uprising in Cuenca failed, the bishop was arrested by Republican militiamen for collaborationism. He was tried for conspiring against the Republican government and executed on 8 August.
Fulgencio Martínez, a priest in the village of La Paca in Murcia
who was shot after the uprising, was reported by many locals to be closely allied to the local landowners. Over several days before the uprising, father Fulgencio met with these landowners in the village casino—the hub of social life for the local elites in rural Spain—to organise the support for the military coup by offering guns and money to any of those who would join an improvised militia. On the 18th of July, the day of the uprising, father Fulgencio was among the armed thugs who were going through the village streets on lorries rallying support for the uprising under shouts of "Long live the army!" and "Long live general Queipo de Llano!".
Another priest from Murcia was murdered for his alleged molestation of a number of local young women. He was well known in the city of Lorca for practicing extortionate moneylending among the workers in the impoverished mining barrios, and who made business out of stocking food and reselling it at inflated prices at a time where one of the main causes of death among the worker classes was malnutrition
.
Public statements by some of these clerics have also been widely publicised as a form of criticism against their beatification. Rigoberto Domenech, archbishop of Zaragoza, declared publicly on the 11th of August 1936 that the military uprising was to be supported, and its violent actions approved, because "... it is not done in the service of anarchy, but in the benefit of order, fatherland and religion". Another notorious and polemic statement was that given in November 1938 by Leopoldo Eijo Garay, bishop of Madrid-Alcalá, regarding a possible truce between Republican and rebel forces; “To tolerate democratic liberalism… would be to betray the martyrs”.
The controversy surrounding the beatification of Augustinian friar Gabino Olaso Zabala has been different. Friar Zabala was murdered during the civil war and was beatified. However, attention was called to the fact that this priest had been formerly accused of carrying out acts of torture on Filipino friar Mariano Dacanay, in the days when friar Olaso was a missionary in the former Spanish colony and the Filipinos were trying to liberate themselves from Spanish rule ”.
It's often questioned why weren't beatified all the Basque catholic priests and clergymen who were killed by Franco's nationalist troops under the accusation of supporting the Red Army, after nationalist victory in Basque provinces, in what is considered "fascist terror".
History
During the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
of 1936-1939, and especially in the early months of the conflict, individual clergymen and entire religious communities were executed, with a death toll of 13 bishops, 4,172 diocesan priests and seminarists, 2,364 monks and friars and 283 nuns, for a total of 6,832 clerical victims, as part of what is referred to as Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
's Red Terror
Red Terror (Spain)
The Red Terror in Spain is the name given by historians to various acts committed "by sections of nearly all the leftist groups" such as the killing of tens of thousands of people , as well as attacks on landowners, industrialists, and politicians, and the...
.
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
beatified a total of about 500 martyrs in the years 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2001. Some 233 executed clergy were beatified by John Paul II on the 11th of March 2001. Regarding the selection of Candidates, Archbishop Edward Novack from the Congregation of Saints explained in an interview with L'Osservatore Romano
L'Osservatore Romano
L'Osservatore Romano is the "semi-official" newspaper of the Holy See. It covers all the Pope's public activities, publishes editorials by important churchmen, and runs official documents after being released...
: "Ideologies such as Nazism or Communism serve as a context of martyrdom, but in the foreground the person stands out with his conduct, and, case by case, it is important that the people among whom the person lived should affirm and recognize his fame as a martyr and then pray to him, obtaining graces. It is not so much ideologies that concern us, as the sense of faith of the People of God, who judge the person's behaviour
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI beatified 498 more Spanish martyrs in October 2007, in what has become the largest beatification ceremony in the history of the Catholic Church. In this group of people, the Vatican has not included all Spanish martyrs, nor any of the 16 priests who were executed by the nationalist side in the first years of the war. This decision has caused numerous criticisms from surviving family members and several political organisations in Spain.The beatification process recognized the extraordinary fate and often brutal death of the persons involved. Some have criticized the beatifications as dishonoring non-clergy who were also killed in the war, and as being an attempt to draw attention away from the church's support of Franco (some quarters of the Church called the Nationalist cause a "crusade"). Within Spain, the Civil War still raises high emotions. The act of beatification has also coincided in time with the debate on the Law of Historical Memory (about the treatment of the victims of the war and its aftermath) promoted by the Spanish Government.
Responding to the criticism, the Vatican has described the October 2007 beatifications as relating to personal virtues and holiness, not ideology. They are not about "resentment but... reconciliation". The Spanish government has supported the beatifications, sending Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos
Miguel Ángel Moratinos
Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé is a Spanish diplomat and politician, a member of the Socialist Workers' Party and member of Congress where he represents Córdoba....
to attend the ceremony.
Among the present was Juan Andrés Torres Mora, a relative of one of the martyrs and the Spanish MP who had debated the memory law for PSOE
.
The October 2007 beatifications have brought the number of martyred persons beatified by the Church to 977, eleven of whom have already been canonized as Saints. Because of the extent of the persecution, many more cases could be proposed; as many as 10,000 according to Catholic Church sources. The process for beatification has already been initiated for about 2,000 people.
At the October 28, 2007 beatifications, Pope Benedict underscored the call to sanctity for all Christians, saying it was "realistic possibility for the entire Christian people". He also noted, "This martyrdom in ordinary life is an important witness in today's secularized society."
Passionist Martyrs of Daimiel
See also Martyrs of DaimielMartyrs of Daimiel
The Passionist Martyrs of Daimiel were a group of priests and brothers of the Passionist Congregation killed by anti-clericalist forces during the Spanish Civil War.-Martyrdom:...
They were a group of priests and brothers of the Passionist
Passionist
The Passionists are a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Paul of the Cross . Professed members use the initials C.P. after their names.-History:St...
Congregation killed by Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. They were beatified by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
on October 1, 1989. Eye-witnesses reported that all of the Passionists had forgiven their murderers before they died. A witness to the murder of Father Niceforo reported that after being shot the priest turned his eyes to heaven then turned and smiled at his murderers. At this point one of them, now more infuriated than ever, shouted:
“What, are you still smiling?”With that he shot him at point blank range.
Individuals
Saint Innocencio of Mary Immaculate
Saint Innocencio of Mary ImmaculateInnocencio of Mary Immaculate
Saint Innocencio of Mary Immaculate , born Emanuele Canoura Arnau, was a member of the Passionist Congregation and a martyr of the Spanish Civil War...
born Emanuele Canoura Arnau, was a member of the Passionist
Passionist
The Passionists are a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Paul of the Cross . Professed members use the initials C.P. after their names.-History:St...
Congregation and martyr of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, born on March 10, 1887 in Santa Cecelia del Valle de Oro in Galicia, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
; died October 9, 1934. Canonised by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
in 1999.
Eugenio Sanz-Orozco Mortera
Eugenio Sanz-Orozco MorteraEugenio Sanz-Orozco Mortera
Eugenio Sanz-Orozco Mortera was born on September 5, 1880 in Manila, Philippines. He was a Franciscan Capuchin priest killed on August 17, 1936 in Madrid, Spain during the Spanish civil war.- Canonization :...
(Jose Maria of Manila) was born on September 5, 1880 in Manila, Philippines. He was a Franciscan Capuchin priest. He died a martyr on August 17, 1936 in Madrid, Spain during the Spanish civil war. He is venerated in the Catholic Church, which celebrate his Feast on August 17.
Blessed Bartolomé Blanco Márquez
Bartolomé Blanco Márquez was born in Cordoba, SpainCórdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
in 1914. He was arrested as a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
leader—he was the secretary of Catholic Action
Catholic Action
Catholic Action was the name of many groups of lay Catholics who were attempting to encourage a Catholic influence on society.They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries that fell under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Italy, Bavaria, France, and...
and a delegate to the Catholic Syndicates—on Aug. 18, 1936. He was executed on Oct. 2, 1936, at age 21, while he cried out, “Long live Christ the King
Christ the King
Christ the King is a title of Jesus based on several passages of Scripture. It is used by most Christians. The Roman Catholic Church, together with many Protestant denominations, including the Anglican Churches, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Methodists, celebrate the Feast of Christ the King on the...
!" Born in Pozoblanco 25 November 1914, Bartolome was orphaned as a child, and raised by family with whom he worked. He was an excellent student, studying under the tutelage of the Salesians.
Background
During the 19th and the 20th centuries, the role of the Catholic Church in the Spanish society and government was one of the issues polarizing Spanish societyThe two Spains
The two Spains is a phrase from a short poem by Spanish poet Antonio Machado. The phrase, referring to the left-right political divisions that later led to the Spanish Civil War, originated in a short, untitled poem, number LIII of his Proverbios y Cantares .Antonio Machado himself is an example...
. It supported and was strongly supported by and associated with the Spanish monarchy and the system of privileges for a small aristocratic elite. However at the same time, even in military and conservative circles anti-clericism began to gain ground, partly as a reaction to the Carlist wars, and partly due to the feeling that anti-Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
religious dogma was responsible for Spain's failure to develop and imperial decline
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
.
The Second Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
saw an alternation of progressive and conservative coalition governments between 1931 and 1936.
Amidst the disorder caused by the military coup of July 1936, many supporters of the legitimate (Republican) government pointed their weapons against individuals they considered local reactionaries, including priests and nuns.
A paradoxic case for foreign Catholics was that of the Basque Nationalist Party
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...
, at the time a Catholic party from the Basque areas, who after some hesitation, supported the Republican government in exchange for an autonomous government
Basque Government
The Basque Government is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain. The head of this government is the lehendakari or Basque president that is appointed by the Basque Parliament every four years...
in the Basque Country. Although, virtually every other group on the Republican side was involved in the anticlerical persecution, the Basques did not play a part. The Vatican diplomacy tried to orient them to the National side, explicitly supported by Cardinal Isidro Goma y Tomas, but the BNP feared the centralism of the Nationals. Some Catalan nationalist
Catalan nationalism
Catalan nationalism or Catalanism , is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or full independence of Catalonia....
also found themselves in the same situation, such as members of de Unió Democràtica de Catalunya party whose most relevant leader, Manuel Carrasco i Formiguera was killed by the Nationalists in Burgos
Burgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
on 1938.
Controversy
A number of controversies have arisen around the beatification of some of these clerics, most of them opposing the notion of these priests being killed for mere religious hatred and, while not excusing their brutal murders, putting them in the context of the historical moment and questioning the appropriateness of their beatification.One of the most notable of these has centred around Cruz Laplana y Laguna, bishop of Cuenca, a well-known supporter of the monarchic regime, who since the proclamation of the Second Republic had carried out a number of political, pro right-wing campaigns throughout the province, and had established close contacts with military officials such as general Joaquín Fanjul, a supporter of Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's coup. The bishop of Cuenca is described by his biographer as "supreme advisor" to the general, as well as being closely involved with the Falange
Falange
The Spanish Phalanx of the Assemblies of the National Syndicalist Offensive , known simply as the Falange, is the name assigned to several political movements and parties dating from the 1930s, most particularly the original fascist movement in Spain. The word means phalanx formation in Spanish....
. In 1936 he personally endorsed José Antonio Primo de Rivera
José Antonio Primo de Rivera
José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquis of Estella , was a Spanish lawyer, nobleman, politician, and founder of the Falange Española...
, the leader of this party, as a candidate to the 1936 local elections. When the pro-coup uprising in Cuenca failed, the bishop was arrested by Republican militiamen for collaborationism. He was tried for conspiring against the Republican government and executed on 8 August.
Fulgencio Martínez, a priest in the village of La Paca in Murcia
Murcia
-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...
who was shot after the uprising, was reported by many locals to be closely allied to the local landowners. Over several days before the uprising, father Fulgencio met with these landowners in the village casino—the hub of social life for the local elites in rural Spain—to organise the support for the military coup by offering guns and money to any of those who would join an improvised militia. On the 18th of July, the day of the uprising, father Fulgencio was among the armed thugs who were going through the village streets on lorries rallying support for the uprising under shouts of "Long live the army!" and "Long live general Queipo de Llano!".
Another priest from Murcia was murdered for his alleged molestation of a number of local young women. He was well known in the city of Lorca for practicing extortionate moneylending among the workers in the impoverished mining barrios, and who made business out of stocking food and reselling it at inflated prices at a time where one of the main causes of death among the worker classes was malnutrition
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
.
Public statements by some of these clerics have also been widely publicised as a form of criticism against their beatification. Rigoberto Domenech, archbishop of Zaragoza, declared publicly on the 11th of August 1936 that the military uprising was to be supported, and its violent actions approved, because "... it is not done in the service of anarchy, but in the benefit of order, fatherland and religion". Another notorious and polemic statement was that given in November 1938 by Leopoldo Eijo Garay, bishop of Madrid-Alcalá, regarding a possible truce between Republican and rebel forces; “To tolerate democratic liberalism… would be to betray the martyrs”.
The controversy surrounding the beatification of Augustinian friar Gabino Olaso Zabala has been different. Friar Zabala was murdered during the civil war and was beatified. However, attention was called to the fact that this priest had been formerly accused of carrying out acts of torture on Filipino friar Mariano Dacanay, in the days when friar Olaso was a missionary in the former Spanish colony and the Filipinos were trying to liberate themselves from Spanish rule ”.
It's often questioned why weren't beatified all the Basque catholic priests and clergymen who were killed by Franco's nationalist troops under the accusation of supporting the Red Army, after nationalist victory in Basque provinces, in what is considered "fascist terror".
See also
- Saint Innocencio of Mary ImmaculateInnocencio of Mary ImmaculateSaint Innocencio of Mary Immaculate , born Emanuele Canoura Arnau, was a member of the Passionist Congregation and a martyr of the Spanish Civil War...
- The Martyrs of DaimielMartyrs of DaimielThe Passionist Martyrs of Daimiel were a group of priests and brothers of the Passionist Congregation killed by anti-clericalist forces during the Spanish Civil War.-Martyrdom:...
- Blessed Bartolome Blanco MarquezBartolome Blanco MarquezBlessed Bartolomé Blanco Márquez Bartolomé Blanco Márquez was born in Pozoblanco, Córdoba Province, Spain in 1914. He was arrested as a Catholic leader—he was the secretary of Catholic Action and a delegate to the Catholic Syndicates—on Aug. 18, 1936. He was executed on Oct...
, cooperator of the Salesian Fathers - Suppression of Freemasonry (Spain)
- Martyrs of the Cristero WarSaints of the Cristero WarOn May 21, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized a group of 25 saints and martyrs arising from the Mexican Cristero War. The vast majority are Roman Catholic priests who were executed for carrying out their ministry despite the suppression under the anti-clerical laws of Plutarco Elías Calles. Priests...
- Drina MartyrsDrina MartyrsDrina Martyrs are the professed Sisters of the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity, murdered because of their faith in Bosnia and Hercegovina between December 15 and 23, 1941.- Life :...