Pope Leo XIV advances beatifications of Argentinian businessman Enrique Shaw and eleven Spanish Civil War martyrs, honoring faith and virtue.
Newsroom (18/12/2025 Gaudium Press ) On Thursday, 18 December, during an audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning twelve new Blesseds. The group includes eleven martyrs of the Spanish Civil War and Argentine layman Enrique Ernesto Shaw, a businessman renowned for his Christian witness in the workplace.
In the same decree, the Pope recognized the heroic virtues of three others—two Italians, Fra Berardo Atonna and Sister Domenica Caterina dello Spirito Santo, and the Indian priest Joseph Panjikaran—granting each the title of “Venerable.”
Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish martyrs, nine seminarians, a priest, and a layman, were killed between 1936 and 1937 in an era of severe anti-Christian persecution across the dioceses of Madrid, Getafe, and Alcalá de Henares.
Among them was seminarian Ignatius Aláez Vaquero, who refused to enlist as a soldier and was executed alongside his father for remaining faithful to his priestly vocation. Pablo Chomón Pardo and his uncle, the priest Julio Pardo Pernía, perished in August 1936. Another seminarian, Antonio Moralejo Fernández-Shaw, was killed with his father, Liberato Moralejo Juan, who refused to abandon his son. Other seminarians—Jesús Sánchez Fernández-Yáñez, Miguel Talavera Sevilla, Ángel Trapero Sánchez-Real, and Cástor Zarco García—shared similar fates for their steadfastness to faith.
Laymen Mariano Arrizabalaga Español and Ramón Ruiz Pérez were tortured and murdered together with a group of twenty others. Archival records describe their persecution as carried out in odium fidei, in hatred of the faith. Their sacrifices, made with serenity and forgiveness, have long inspired devotion among the faithful in Spain.
The Faith and Work of Enrique Ernesto Shaw
In Argentina, Enrique Ernesto Shaw stands as an example of Christian commitment in professional and family life. Born in Paris in 1921 and raised in Buenos Aires, he joined the Navy as a young man and devoted his time at sea to catechizing fellow sailors.
Later entering the business world, Shaw promoted Catholic social teaching within his company, fostering an atmosphere of cooperation and dignity among workers. He was a founding figure of Catholic Action and the Christian Family Movement, and he often spoke publicly on the social role of entrepreneurs. Married to Cecilia Bunge, he was the father of nine children. Shaw died of cancer in 1962, leaving behind a reputation for integrity, prayer, and generosity.
His intercession is linked to the 2015 miraculous recovery of a five-year-old boy in Argentina who sustained life-threatening head injuries after being kicked by a horse. The child’s full recovery, deemed medically inexplicable, allowed the Church to confirm the miracle required for Shaw’s beatification.
Fra Berardo Atonna: The Poor Man’s Friar
Fra Berardo Atonna, born Giuseppe in 1843 in southern Italy, lived a quiet life of faith as a Franciscan missionary. Ordained in 1866, he dedicated his ministry to preaching missions across Campania, Lazio, Umbria, and Puglia. His spirituality, deeply rooted in devotion to Christ, the Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph, inspired his compassion for the poor and the sick.
Despite enduring false accusations late in life, he remained serene, living in poverty and dedicating all he had to charity. Atonna died in 1917 and is now recognized as Venerable for his heroic virtue.
Sister Domenica Caterina dello Spirito Santo: Hope Born of Hardship
Sister Domenica Caterina dello Spirito Santo, born Teresa Solari in 1822 in the Ligurian town of Ne, suffered great hardship in her youth. Orphaned early and often sick, she transformed her suffering into compassion, founding a charitable home for destitute girls with her friend Antonietta Cervetto. By 1870, the initiative had formalized into the “Piccola Casa della Divina Provvidenza,” where Teresa, now Sister Domenica Caterina, took her vows.
Her community later became affiliated with the Dominican Order. Remembered for her prayerful simplicity and Marian devotion, she died in 1908, leaving a living legacy of faith through the institute she inspired.
Father Joseph Panjikaran: Apostle of Charity in India
From India, Father Joseph Panjikaran, born in Kerala in 1888, embodied pastoral creativity in the face of social barriers. Ordained in 1918, he combined missionary zeal with social concern, founding institutions that bridged faith and service.
After serving in Rome during the Holy Year of 1925, Panjikaran returned to India and established the Dharmagiri (Mount of Charity) Hospital in Kothamangalam to care for the poor. To sustain his vision, he founded the Congregation of the Medical Sisters of Saint Joseph. He passed away in 1949, remembered for his dedication to the marginalized and his deep trust in divine providence.
A Witness of Universal Faith
Through these new Blesseds and Venerables, Pope Leo XIV highlighted the Church’s continuing recognition of faith expressed in diverse forms—through sacrifice, service, family, and social engagement. From war-torn Spain to modern Argentina and India’s mission fields, these lives stand as luminous examples of how holiness can be lived in every walk of life.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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