Pope Leo XIV recognizes martyrdom of Christians slaughtered by Spanish leftists

Pope Leo XIV has recognized the martyrdom of scores of Spanish Christians murdered by leftists in the 1930s, setting the stage for their possible canonization.

Spain was ravaged in the first half of the 20th century by a bloody civil war that saw a motley crew of Soviet-backed leftists — a coalition strained by infighting between anarchists and communists, to the great chagrin of George Orwell — pitted against an alliance of conservatives, nationalists, and monarchists who were alternatively reinforced by German and Italian forces.

In the years leading up to the war, the Catholic Church and its supporters in Spain became increasingly popular targets for deadly leftist attacks and political persecution by the Republican government.

That oppression paled, however, in comparison to the anti-Catholic campaign executed during the "Red Terror" — the leftist counterinsurgency described by the late Austrian-American polymath Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn as "an orgy of rape, sadism, and unspeakable obscenities."

According to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation:

Republican partisans desecrated, burned, and looted churches and shrines all across Spain. Relics and statues were paraded through the streets in mock celebrations; the bodies of saints and clergy were dug up and abused. Priests and religious were hunted and massacred: around 6,800 Catholic clergy, including 13 bishops, were tortured and executed by left-wing forces. Nor were these killings a reaction to clerical abuses. According to historian José Sanchez, "Priests of all types were killed: strict, loose, moral, immoral, libertines and ascetics,” including "some priests who were social activists and had actively opposed the uprisings." Indeed, murder of the local priest became de rigueur for loyal partisans: "Cassock we see, cassock we kill."

On Monday, Pope Leo authorized the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to recognize the martyrdom of Brother Estanislao Ortega García and 48 of his companions from the Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel along with diocesan priest Emanuele Berenguer Clusella, who were "killed between the months of July and November 1936 in hatred of the faith, in various parts of Catalonia, Spain, in the context of the same persecution."

Vatican News noted that the recognition of the clerics' martyrdom "marks a step forward in the respective causes for canonization."

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Exhumed Catholic bodies put on display in a Barcelona street by Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. STF/AFP/Getty Images

InfoVaticana reported that the Archdiocese of Barcelona initially got the ball rolling on these martyrs' beatification decades ago, collecting testimonies and documentation regarding the circumstances of their deaths.

'They are models of consistency with the truth they professed.'

This is hardly the first time that Pope Leo or his predecessors have recognized the heroic faith of Christians murdered by Spanish leftists in the 1930s.

Last year, for instance, Pope Leo recognized as martyrs 109 diocesan priests, one religious sister, and 14 lay Catholics killed during the conflict along with 50 French Catholics who died in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

In 2013, Pope Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, enraged leftists by announcing the beatification of over 520 martyrs, mainly clergymen, killed for their faith during the Spanish Civil War. This beatification further advanced the cause of their potential recognition by the Catholic Church as saints.

The process for canonization, or official recognition of sainthood, is as follows: First, a candidate who "lived a heroically virtuous life or offered their life" is recognized by the pope as "venerable." The second stage is beatification, which requires a finding of "one miracle acquired through the candidate's intercession." Finally, for canonization, a second miracle is required.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops notes on its website that "all Christians are called to be saints. Saints are persons in heaven (officially canonized or not), who lived heroically virtuous lives, offered their life for others, or were martyred for the faith, and who are worthy of imitation."

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI beatified 498 martyrs "who poured out their blood for the faith during the religious persecution in Spain in 1934, 1936 and 1937" and whose ages ranged from 16 to 78.

In 2001, Pope John Paul II beatified 233 martyrs killed during the Spanish Civil War, including Maria Teresa Ferragud, an 83-year-old woman who was savagely murdered on the feast of Christ the King in 1936 along with her four daughters, all of whom were nuns.

"The Church wishes to recognize these men and women as examples of courage and constancy in faith, helped by God’s grace," Pope John Paul II, who was canonized in 2014, said at the time. "For us they are models of consistency with the truth they professed, while at the same time they honor the noble Spanish people and the Church."

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