Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War

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Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War
Martyrs
Born Various
Died 1934, 1936-1939
Venerated in Roman Catholicism
Beatified 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, March 11, 2001, and October 28, 2007 [1]
Canonized 1999 (Nine Martyrs of the 1934 Asturias uprising)[2], Rome by John Paul II
Feast September 22 and November 6
Saints Portal

Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War is the name given by the Catholic Church to the people who were killed during the Spanish Civil War because of their connection to the church. [3] [4]

Contents

[edit] History

During the Spanish Civil War 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, 4172 diocesan priests and seminarists, 2364 monks and friars and 283 nuns, for a total of 6832 victims [5].

As a claim that they were martyrs, 233 of these executed clergymen were beatified by Pope John Paul II on the 11th of March 2001[6]. Benedict XVI beatified 498 more in October of 2007[7], in what has become the largest beatification ceremony in the history of the Catholic Church [8].

In this group of martyrs, the Vatican has not included 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.[9]

The beatification process has also been criticized 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").[10] 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 not about "resentment but... reconciliation". The Spanish government has supported the beatifications, sending Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos to attend the ceremony.[11] 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 [12].

The October 2007 beatifications have brought the number of Spanish martyrs to 977, eleven of whom have already been canonized as Saints.[8] 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.[8].

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". [13] He also noted, "This martyrdom in ordinary life is an important witness in today's secularized society." [14]

[edit] Background

During the 19th and the 20th centuries, the role of religion on the Spanish society was one of the issues polarizing Spanish society[dubious ]. It supported and was strongly supported by and associated with the Spanish monarchy and the and the system of privileges for a small aristocratic elite.[2]

The Second Spanish Republic saw an alternation of leftist and rightist governments. Amidst the disorder caused by the military coup of July 1936, many Republican people pointed their weapons against what 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.[15] The Vatican diplomacy tried to orient them to the National side, explicitly supported by Isidro Cardinal Goma y Tomas, but the BNP feared the centralism of the Nationals.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Butler, Alban and Peter Doyle Butler's Lives of the Saints p. 169 Liturgical Press (February 2000)
  2. ^ Butler, Alban and Peter Doyle Butler's Lives of the Saints p. 169 Liturgical Press (February 2000)
  3. ^ Royal, Robert The New Spanish Martyrs, The Catholic Herald 2000
  4. ^ Butler, Alban and Peter Doyle Butler's Lives of the Saints p. 169 Liturgical Press (February 2000)
  5. ^ Julio de la Cueva, "Religious Persecution, Anticlerical Tradition and Revolution: On Atrocities against the Clergy during the Spanish Civil War" Journal of Contemporary History 33.3 (July 1998): 355.
  6. ^ New Evangelization with the Saints, L'Osservatore Romano 28 November 2001, page 3 (Weekly English Edition)
  7. ^ Tucson priests one step away from sainthood Arizona Star 06.12.2007
  8. ^ a b c 500 Spanish martyrs to be beatified Independent Catholic News 10 October 2007
  9. ^ "Familiares de los curas vascos fusilados por Franco claman contra el olvido"[1]On-line edition of El País 27/10/2007(in Spanish)
  10. ^ "Vatican's Plan to Beatify Spanish Clergy Divisive" by Jerome Socolovsky. Morning Edition, National Public Radio, 13 July 2007.
  11. ^ Reijers-Martin, Laura Vatican honours Spanish war dead BBC October 28, 2007
  12. ^ Mártires.- Unas 400 personas celebran la beatificación en la Embajada de España ante la Santa Sede, Europa Press, 28 October 2007.
  13. ^ WINFIELD, NICOLEVatican Beatifies 498 Spanish Martyrs Los Angeles Times (AP) October 28, 2007
  14. ^ WINFIELD, NICOLEVatican Beatifies 498 Spanish Martyrs Los Angeles Times (AP) October 28, 2007
  15. ^ Stanley G. Payne, A History of Spain and Portugal Vol. 2 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1973), 649.
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