Pope recongnizes martyrdom of 49 Spaniards during civil war

During an audience on Monday with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV authorized the promulgation of several decrees concerning martyrdom, the offering of life, and the recognition of heroic virtues of several men and women.

Among the decrees is the recognition of the martyrdom of the Servants of God Stanislao Ortega García (born Lorenzo) and 48 companions, members of the Institute of the Brothers of Christian Instruction of Saint Gabriel, together with diocesan priest Emanuel Berenguer Clusella.

They were killed between July and November 1936 in various locations in Catalonia, Spain, during the same period of religious persecution, in hatred of the faith.

The Holy Father also recognized the offering of life of the Servant of God Pietro Emanuele Salado Alba, a lay member of the association “Hogar de Nazaret." Born in 1968 in Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain, he died in 2012 in Playa de Tonsupa, Ecuador.

In addition, the Pope approved decrees recognizing the heroic virtues of three Servants of God.

Maria Eletta of Jesus (born Caterina Tramazzoli), a Discalced Carmelite, was born in Terni, Italy, in 1605 and died in Prague in 1663.

Maria Teresa of the Most Holy Trinity (born Teresa Ysseldijk), a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Carmelites of the Divine Heart of Jesus, was born in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, in 1897 and died in St. Louis, United States, in 1926.

Maria Raffaella De Giovanna, founder of the Congregation of the Tertiary Minim Sisters of Saint Francis of Paola, was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1870, where she died in 1933.

The promulgation of these decrees marks a step forward in the respective causes for canonization.