Spain’s Church commemorates 2,053 martyrs killed in 1930s religious violence on Nov. 6, honoring faith, forgiveness amid ongoing beatifications.
Newsroom (06/11/2025, Gaudium Press ) The Catholic Church in Spain marks November 6 as the Commemoration of the Martyrs of the Religious Persecution of the 20th Century, a solemn liturgical day dedicated to thousands who perished for their faith during the turbulent 1930s.
Instituted to honor bishops, priests, monks, nuns, and lay faithful who refused to renounce Christ or abandon their vocations, the observance underscores a dark chapter of violence and anti-clerical hatred during the Second Republic and Civil War.
Official records from the Spanish Episcopal Conference indicate 2,053 individuals have been recognized as martyrs: 12 canonized saints and 2,041 beatified across 11 ceremonies since 1987. The Vatican’s rigorous vetting process, initiated in the 1950s, continues to examine additional cases.
Persecution swept nearly the entire nation, resulting in the destruction of churches, convents, and schools. Clergy and religious faced arrest or execution solely for their attire or duties. Yet, survivors’ accounts and martyrs’ final writings reveal themes of forgiveness rather than bitterness.
“I hold no hatred for anyone. I die forgiving everyone,” penned Bl. Bishop Salvio Huix Miralpeix of Lleida prior to his execution in August 1936.
The Holy See’s first beatifications occurred under Pope John Paul II in 1987, involving three Carmelites from Guadalajara. Momentum grew with Benedict XVI’s 2007 ceremony for 498 martyrs, drawing diocesan representatives nationwide, and Francis’ 2013 approval of 522 more, including seminarians and catechists.
A 2022 rite canonized 20 from Almería and Granada. Over 40 dioceses have advanced related causes.
Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia, and eastern Andalusia suffered most acutely. Barcelona saw over 300 religious killed in the war’s early months; Barbastro lost 51 Claretian seminarians after imprisonment; Toledo mourned nearly 100 from its major seminary; and Madrid-Alcalá recorded more than 400 executions.
Local plaques, relics, and services preserve these stories across Spain.
The Vatican stresses interpreting these sacrifices as acts of Gospel fidelity and reconciliation, not politics. Their enduring witness urges modern believers to uphold truth amid adversity and counter hatred with charity.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Info Vaticana
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