Pope Leo XIV has formally recognised the martyrdom of 49 Spanish Religious killed during the early months of the Spanish Civil War, authorising the publication of a decree on Monday advancing their causes for beatification. The decision, announced after an April 27 meeting at the Vatican with the prefect responsible for sainthood causes, acknowledges that the men were killed “in hatred of the faith” between July and November 1936.
The decree was approved during an audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, head of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, and concerns Stanislao Ortega García and 48 companions belonging to the Institute of the Brothers of Christian Instruction of Saint Gabriel, together with diocesan priest Emanuel Berenguer Clusella.
