Posted on 12/07/2021 5:37:38 PM PST by marshmallow
The beatification ceremony for sixteen martyrs of the Spanish Civil War will be held in February at the Granada Cathedral.
Fr. Cayetano Giménez Martín and his 15 companions will be beatified Feb. 26, 2022. Of the group, all were priests, except a seminarian and a layman.
The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Nationalist forces, led by Francisco Franco, and the Republican faction. During the war, Republicans martyred thousands of clerics, religious, and laity; of these, 11 have been canonized, and more than 2,000 beatified.
Fr. Cayetano refused to escape to safety at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. When his parish church was burned, he took refuge with a family for two weeks but was captured, and then shot Aug. 1, 1936, shouting “Viva Cristo Rey”.
His companions were: Fr. José Becerra Sánchez; Fr. José Jiménez Reyes; Fr. Pedro Ruiz de Valdivia; Fr. Francisco Morales Valenzuela; Fr. José Frías Ruiz; Fr. Manuel Vázquez Alfalla; Fr.Ramón Cervilla Luis; Fr. Lorenzo Palomino Villaescusa; Fr. José Rescalvo Ruiz; Fr. Manuel Vilches Montalvo; Fr. José María Polo Rejón; Fr. Juan Bazaga Palacios; Fr. Miguel Romero Rojas; Antonio Caba Pozo, a seminarian; and José Muñoz Calvo, a layman.
Caba Pozo was about 22 when he was arrested on July 19, 1936. He was shot while praying the rosary two days later.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
How many clerics, religious and laity we killed by the Communists? Just asking.
God Bless Franco, the savior of Spain.
If this war were happening today, which side would the Vatican be on? The Catholics or the NKVD-backed commies?
Don’t worry. I misread the headline. I was thinking of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8A9Y1Dq_cQ
Getting old is not for the weak,nor for those without a sense of humor.
The leftist were called that because they replaced the monarchy, so it was then a republic.
Even the leftists acknowledged that they lynched almost 7,000 clergy in the first month of the war, including 12 bishops.
Franco was no saint, but he was fighting evil incarnate.
The Thaelmann Battalion, named for Ernst Thaelmann, boss of the Communist Party of Germany who was at the time imprisoned and would be murdered by the Nazis in 1944, was a German unit that was part of the International Brigades organized by the Communist international to aid the Spanish Republicans. Ernst Busch would go on to become the East German Communists' favorite balladeer, cranking out hit songs such as Stalin, Friend and Comrade.
The Republican faction was originally mostly Socialists and Anarchists. The Soviet Union aided the Republican / Loyalist side, including selling arms in exchange for Spain’s gold reserve, still the world’s 3rd largest in value at the beginning of the war. There were many executions by both sides, including the Communists executing other Republicans. The only ones canonized are those on the Nationalist side who were clergy or died for their religious beliefs. 6,000+ clergy died, including 13 bishops.
Many Americans joined the Republicans by enlisting in the “Condor Legion”. They were later denied entry in US Armed Forces at the outbreak of WWII.
General Franco was brutal but it was by necessity. He was fighting totalitarian communists. He won and thus saved Spain. Once in power he was smart enough to stay out of WWII and firmly position his country in the Western camp against communists. Whatever his faults, Spain could have done much much worse than Franco.
Franco also aided us during the Cold War by providing bases for the US Air Force. The bases kept a low profile—at Torrejon, near Madrid, there was simply a sign in Spanish reading, “Air Base” at the turnoff from the main highway—and they flew the Spanish flag.
The “Republicans” in Spain basically were Communists, or at least had a large Communist faction.
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