Pope Francis recalls the beatification in Seville, Saturday November 18, of 20 martyrs killed in hatred of the faith during the Spanish Civil War.
By Linda Bordoni
Speaking after reciting the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis recalled the beatification in the Spanish Archdiocese of Seville of Father Manuel Gonzalez-Serna and 19 of his companions during the Spanish Civil War.
“Manuel Gonzales-Serna, diocesan priest, and nineteen companions, priests and lay people, killed in 1936 in the climate of religious persecution of the Spanish Civil War, were beatified yesterday in Seville,” he declared.
Noting that these martyrs bore witness to Christ until the end, the Pope said: “May their example comfort the many Christians who today are discriminated against because of their faith.”
Beatification in Seville
The beatification ceremony in the Cathedral of Seville was celebrated by the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro.
The new blesseds include 10 priests, a seminarian and nine lay people. All were killed out of hatred of the faith in 1936.
The only laywoman was a housewife who worked for the parish. Other laymen included lawyers, landowners, a pharmacist, a sexton and a carpenter.
Among the priests, many had already suffered violent anticlericalism before the outbreak of the civil war. Some were educators, others saw their churches burned.
