Leo XIV also authorized decrees of 50 French martyrs and 4 Venerables from Italy and Brazil.
Newsroom(21/06/2025 20:18, Gaudium Press) In an audience granted to Cardinal Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning 124 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, 50 French martyrs of World War II, the beatification of a Spanish priest and 4 new venerables from Italy and Brazil.
Father Valera
The priest to be beatified is Fr. Salvador Valera Parra, a Spaniard, pastor of Huércal-Overa in Almería, whom people affectionately called “Cura Valera”.
Father Valera was born in 1816 and was known for his generous dedication to his faithful, for example, he spent sleepless nights caring for the sick with cholera. Some call him “the Spanish Cura de Ars”. His remains rest in the parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Huércal-Overa.
The miracle approved for his beatification is that of a newborn baby in Providence (USA), who was pulseless and in critical condition. After Cura Valera was invoked, he came back to life. The one who made the invocation was a doctor originally from Huércal-Overa.
The martyrs of the Spanish Civil War to be blessed are the Servants of God Manuel Izquierdo Izquierdo, a diocesan priest, and 58 Companions of the Diocese of Jaen (Spain), killed between 1936 and 1938.
The Pontiff also approved the martyrdom of the Servants of God Antonio Montañés Chiquero, a diocesan priest, and 64 Companions of the Diocese of Jaén (Spain), killed during the Spanish Civil War,
The French Martyrs
Leo XIV also recognized the martyrdom of the Servants of God Raimond Cayré, diocesan priest; Gerard Martin Cendrier, professed religious of the Order of Friars Minor; Roger Vallée, seminarian; Jean Mestre, lay faithful, and 46 companions, killed between 1944 and 1945 for hatred for the faith during the Second World War.
With information from Aciprensa.
Compiled by Teresa Joseph
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