Vatican City.- Pope
Leo XIV approved this Friday the decrees that recognize the "martyrdom" for "hatred of the Faith" of 124 priests from Jaén (Andalusia, Spain) murdered between 1936 and 1938, for which they will be beatified.
This concerns two decrees approved by the pontiff after receiving the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Marcello Semeraro, and as they were recognized as martyrs, they have not needed any miracles, unlike the rest of the beatification processes.
Among the new beatified are Manuel Izquierdo Izquierdo, diocesan priest, and 58 companions from the Diocese of Jaén (Spain), murdered between 1936 and 1938, out of hatred for the faith, in various places in Spain, during the Spanish Civil War.
In that period, the "hatred of faith" (odium fidei) "is widely demonstrated by the widespread violence against the Church, its ministers and many of its faithful", according to the Vaticanews portal.
"The leader of the martyrs of Jaén, don Manuel Izquierdo Izquierdo, was particularly a victim of mistreatment and torture inflicted by his persecutors, just like the servant of God don Manuel Valdivia Chica, who before dying had his hands, with which he had consecrated, cut off", he explains.
The second group of new Spanish blesseds is made up of Antonio Montañés Chiquero, a diocesan priest, and 64 companions from the Diocese of Jaén (Spain), including 54 priests, as well as 9 men and one laywoman, murdered between 1936 and 1937, out of hatred for the faith, in various locations in Spain, in the context of the same persecution.
"These Servants of God also operated in the territory of the diocese of Jaén; the majority were captured by militiamen or denounced, and some of them suffered insults, humiliations, and cruel beatings. The hatred of the faith (odium fidei), as proven by the documents and testimonies collected, motivated the persecution towards the Servants of God solely for being priests and committed laypeople", explains the Vatican website.
The formal martyrdom "is documented for all, and in particular for the priests who wanted to stay close to the people in the parishes where they carried out their ministry, without fleeing despite the danger".
"Some presbyters, including Don Antonio Montañés Chiquero, asked to be killed at the end so they could confess to the others and help them die in a holy manner," he concludes.
Spanish
