SUNDAY WILL MARK THE LARGEST BEATIFICATION IN HISTORY

VATICAN CITY, MAR 9, 2001 (VIS) - On Sunday, March 11, the Pope will preside over the beatification ceremony of 233 martyrs who died between 1936 and 1939 during the Spanish Civil War. In what will be the largest beatification in history, the future blesseds come from 32 dioceses, the majority from diocese of Valencia.

The persecutions took place after the proclamation of the Republic on April 14, 1931 but primarily during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). After the establishment of the Second Republic, there was an intensification of accusations against the Church, charged with having great economic power and scant social sensitivity.

The beginning of the great persecution took place in October, 1934 with the Asturian insurrection, during which priests, seminarians, and religious were assassinated. Mass assassinations, carried out by militia groups, began in July of 1936.

Among the 233 martyrs to be beatified Sunday are lay people, although the majority are religious who belonged to the following orders and religious congregations: Salesians, Scolopians, Carmelites of Charity, Capuchins, Jesuits, Dominicans, Daughters of Mary Immaculate, Franciscans, Dehonians, Tertiary Capuchins, Claretian Missionaries, Brothers of the Christian Schools, Discalced Augustinians, Agullent Capuchins, Cloistered Capuchins, Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly, and Servites.

...;BEATIFICATION SPANISH MARTYRS;...;...;VIS;20010309;Word: 200;