The twentieth century can be defined as a century of martyrs because it has been the bloodiest century in the history of Christianity. Pope John Paul II insisted that the memory of those who gave their lives for their faith in the “coliseums” of the twentieth century should not be lost, but rather increased. He speaks of “innumerable legions” that have followed the footsteps of the Crucified King, and have known how to make manifest that “love is stronger than death”.

Andrea Ricardi says that it is not “the story of some valiant Christians, but rather the story of a massive martyrdom”.

These persecutions have varied in causes in different nations and diverse historical moments. There are atheist ideologies, or idolatry of the State, behind many of the persecutions. Such is the case of the Soviet Union, and the communist regimes of Hungary, Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, North Korea. Nazism afflicted the Christians in Germany, Poland, France, Italy, Holland and Belgium and the Civil Wars of Mexico and Spain also took their toll.

Political reasons united with antichristian impulses provoked other persecutions, such as the ones carried out by Japanese in various points of Asia, in China and the Philippines. Christianity was sometimes combated because it was considered a foreign religion, however on other occasions this excuse could not be used. For example, the persecution of the Christians in some areas where the majority is Muslim could not because of its posterity seeing as how the presence of Christianity – although a minority – was previous to the coming of Islamism.

A particulary painful chapters is constituted by lay and religious women, who in diverse geographical and historical circumstances gave their lives in order not to give into violence. “Frequently, Christian martyrdom of the twentieth century is a demonstration of feminine resistance in the name of faith and of their own dignity”. In any case, it is a martyrdom that in many aspects does not pertain to past history.

October 28, 2007, 498 martyrs of the religious persecution of Spain during the period of 1934-1937 will be beatified in Rome. During the great Jubilee of 2000, Pope John Paul II solicited that a catalogue of the Christian martyrs of the twentieth century be prepared. In the study, the historian Vicente Cárcel Ortí speaks of ten thousand Spanish martyrs assassinated in the timeframe cited. Among this number were twelve bishops, an apostolic Administrator, close to seven thousand priests, religious brothers and sisters, and around three thousand laymen, the majority of which belonged to Catholic Action.

From March 29, 1987 to March 11, 2001, 471 martyrs have been beatified. Of these blessed martyrs, 379 are religious, 4 bishops, 43 priests and 45 laymen. Pedro Poveda, makes number eleven of the Spanish martyrs from this time period that have been canonized: a diocesan priest, a religious priest and nine religious brothers.

We can say that the Church is having a great celebration and in an even more special way the Spanish Church is celebrating. Our soul is filled with emotion, thanksgiving and joy when we read the testimony of the martyrdom of so many men and women, young people, children and elderly who have given their lives for love of God. We must begin a profound renewal of our Christian life, gathering the witnesses of so much blood shed for love of God and of ones neighbor. We are in debt to the martyrs that have preceded us on this path. From heaven they are encouraging and interceding for us so that we do not lose the inheritance of faith that has been transmitted to us throughout the centuries.

It is not a question of reopening healed wounds, but rather as John Paul II said: “If we are proud of this inheritance it is not because of partiality or out of a desire for revenge towards the persecutors, but rather it is in order to make known the extraordinary power of God, that has continued acting in every time and place. We do it forgivingly, following the example of so many witnesses who died while praying for their persecutors." (May 7, 2000).

On the occasion of this great beatification the Spanish bishops have written a message that “will be of help so as not to forget the ‘great sign of hope’, the testimony of the martyrs”.

The martyrs, sign of hope
In 1999, this Plenary Assembly of the bishops gave thanks to God for the achievements of the twentieth century. We asked forgiveness for the sins of that century that was coming to an end. Among those sins, we remembered the “unheard of violence” to which the world, Europe and Spain, saw themselves dragged towards by “totalitarian ideologies that pretended to make earthly utopias a reality using force”. And we thanked God, remembering with John Paul II, that “at the end of the second millennium, the Church has come once again to be a Church of martyrs” and that “the testimony of thousands of martyrs and saints has been stronger than the snares and violence of the false prophets of irreligiousness and atheism”.

The martyrs are above the tragic circumstances that have sent them to their death.Beatification, above all, is to glorify God, through the faith that conquers the world (cf. 1 Jn 5:4) and that transcends the shadows in history and the guilt of men. The martyrs “were victorious by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of the testimony and they loved not their lives unto death” (Ap 12:11).They have given God glory with their lives and with their death and they are for all of us, a sign of love, forgiveness and peace. The martyrs, uniting their blood to that of Christ, are prophesy of redemption and of a divine future, truly better for each one of us and for all humanity.

That is why John Paul II wrote: “I wish to propose to you, so that it is never forgotten, the great sign of hope, which consists of the numerous testimonies of Christian faith throughout these last centuries, in the East as well as in the West. They have known how to live the Gospel in situations of hostility and persecution, frequently to the point of the supreme testimony of shedding their blood. These witnesses, especially of martyrdom, are an eloquent and great sign that ask of us contemplation and imitation. They show us the vitality of the Church; they are for the Church and for humanity a shining light, because they have shined in the shadows the light of Christ […]. Even more radically, they show us that martyrdom is the supreme incarnation of the Gospel of hope”.

The new martyrs of Spain
The beatification that we will celebrate will help not to forget the testimony of the “great sign of hope”, the testimony of the martyrs. Almost five hundred people have been united, this time, in only one celebration. As in other occasions, each case has been studied singularly with great care during years. These martyrs gave their lives in diverse places in Spain, in 1934, 1936 and 1937. They are bishops of Cuenca and Ciudad Real, various diocesan priests, numerous religious – Augustinians, Dominican Brothers and Sisters, Salesians, Brothers of Christian Schools, Marists, different groups of Carmelites, Franciscan Brothers and Sisters, Adoratices, Trinitarians, Marianist, Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts, Missionary Daughters of the Heart of Mary -, seminarians and lay members of the Church, young people, married people, men and women. […].

We can point out as common traits among these new martyrs of Spain the following: they were men and women of faith and prayer, particularly centered in the Eucharist and in the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. They participated in the Holy Mass, receiving Holy Communion and invoking Mary with the prayer of the Holy Rosary, as long as it was possible for them to do so, including during their time of imprisonment. They were apostles and were brave when they had to confess their faith. They willingly comforted and sustained their companions in prison and rejected any proposal made to them that might mean the underestimation or renouncement of their Christian identity. They were strong when they were mistreated or tortured, they forgave their executioners and prayed for them. At the hour of the sacrifice they were serene and profoundly peaceful, they praised God and proclaimed Christ as the only Lord.

Witness of God and of the new humanity
Martyrdom is the most authentic sign of the Church of Jesus Christ: a Church made up of men, fragile and sinners, but who know how to give witness of their vigorous faith and unconditional love for Jesus Christ placing it even before ones own life. The martyrs are people from all kinds of social environments, that have gone through life doing good and that have suffered and have died refusing to save their own life and forgiving those who were mistreating them. As such they place us before a reality that surpasses human effort, inviting us to recognize the strength and the grace of God acting in the weakness of human history.

The mystery of martyrdom is inseparable from the mission that God has given to each one of us, in which is fulfilled the plan of Providence (cf. Is 53:10). Jesus is the culmination of all who are persecuted by those to whom they are sent (cf. Mt. 23:31 and following verses), and Jesus is followed by a growing number of disciples that cannot have any other fate than that of their Master (cf. Jn 15:20; 16:1 and following verses). Jesus relives His martyrdom in His disciples (cf. Acts 9:4 and following; Col 1:24) and for His disciples, death is a profit (cf. Phlp 1:29). In the Church persecution is a sign and condition of the definitive victory of Christ and of his followers: they have an eschatological meaning; they appear as a foretaste of judgment , and the complete establishment of the Kingdom (cf. 1 Peter 4:17-19). They are a prelude to the triumph of life over death and the birth of a new heaven and a new earth (cf. Ap 6:9 and following; 7:13-17; 11:11 and following).

A time of grace
The beatification that we are going to celebrate is a time of grace for the Pilgrim Church in Spain and for the whole of society. We invite you to prepare yourselves well for this celebration and to participate in it in such a way that, for all of us, it may be a new stimulus for the renewal of Christian life. We especially need this renewal in these moments in our society, where reconciliation seems threatened, while the laicist mentality is being spread.

©HM Magazine No. 138 - September/October2007