The Catholic Church beatified nearly 200 martyrs in major ceremonies in Spain and France

On Saturday, 13 December, two Masses were celebrated respectively in the Cathedral of Jaen in Spain and at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris for the beatification of men and women who gave their lives to remain faithful to Christ in times of persecution.

In the first instance, 124 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War were beatified. Choosing the martyrs has involved a research process that dates back to the 1990s and early 2000s. They were killed in various places and at different times during the Spanish Civil War, which featured elements of cruel anti-Catholic persecution.

The beatifications celebrated in Spain concerned the martyrdom of diocesan priest Manuel Izquierdo Izquierdo and 58 companions; and the martyrdom of his colleague Antonio Montañés Chiquero and 64 associates, all killed between 1936 and 1937. The two groups were the subject of separate “causes” for canonisation.

Meanwhile, in Paris, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame was closed for this special occasion.

50 young priests, religious, seminarians, scouts and lay activists who had responded in 1943 to the call from Abbé Jean Rodhain, the future founder of Secours Catholique, and the Archbishop of Paris, Emmanuel Suhard, were beatified.

"Most of them were between twenty and thirty-five years old, and along with so many other anonymous apostles, they understood the spiritual and moral distress of one million five hundred thousand young French workers deported to Germany*, who were now without any religious reference point, since German priests were forbidden to minister to them," remarked Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg, during his homily.

*Research suggests that 1,500,000 French people - prisoners, STO requisitioners and volunteers - worked in Germany between 1942 and 1945.

2,500 people gathered in the nave to attend the largest collective beatification ever organised in France. Of these 2,500 participants, 1,500 were family members of the martyrs. French and German bishops were also present, placing this beatification under the banner of reconciliation. The cardinal addressed the faithful "in French and also in German," as noted in Le Parisien.

Before their beatification, in June 2025, Pope Leo XIV signed a decree from the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints recognising the martyrdom of these 50 Frenchmen.

But far from being a purely "historical" ceremony, this beatification was presented as firmly rooted in the present and even the future.

Cardinal Hollerich said that "this beatification invites us to look at the present and prepare for the future" because "we are not immune to war or violence."