{"id":2022,"date":"2007-10-28T21:15:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-28T21:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/biggest-beatification-ever.html"},"modified":"2007-10-28T21:15:00","modified_gmt":"2007-10-28T21:15:00","slug":"biggest-beatification-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/biggest-beatification-ever.html","title":{"rendered":"Biggest beatification. Ever."},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>It was an event that mingled pomp and politics in a way that is rare for a ceremony that was billed as strictly spiritual. But it resulted in a beatification for the record books<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Vatican held the biggest mass beatification in history on Sunday, putting nearly 500 Catholics killed during the Spanish civil war on the path to possible sainthood.<\/p>\n

But the outdoor ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, attended by tens of thousands of Spanish pilgrims, also revived bitter memories of a conflict which still divides Spain.<\/p>\n

Many Catholic clergy and Church leaders sided with Francisco Franco during the 1936-39 conflict, which began when the general led a military coup against the left-wing government and ended with his victory and installation as a dictator.<\/p>\n

Most of the Catholic martyrs honoured on Sunday were killed by left-wing militias at the outbreak of fighting in 1936.<\/p>\n

“The Communists came and took him away, they shot him,” said Martin Lozano, describing the death of his great-uncle, a 35-year-old priest from Toledo. Lozano, 45, was named after him.<\/p>\n

“This is an important ceremony for Spain, for our history,” Lozano said.<\/p>\n

Over decades, the Church in Spain has gathered evidence that hundreds of its members died for their faith during the war, making them eligible for beatification.<\/p>\n

If devout Catholics report miracles linked to their prayers to those beatified on Sunday, some could be considered for sainthood, a process which takes many more years.<\/p>\n

The civil war is still the source of furious debate in Spain and the Church has insisted it did not want the beatification ceremony to be confused with a political statement.<\/p>\n

Pope Benedict, speaking to the crowds in St. Peter’s Square just after the ceremony, said the martyrs honoured on Sunday were “motivated exclusively by their love for Christ”.<\/p>\n

“The beatifications today remind us of the importance of humbly following our Lord even to the point of offering our lives for the faith,” the Pontiff said.<\/p>\n

Martyrs were even more important symbols in today’s “secularised society”, the Pontiff said.<\/p>\n

In Spain, there is no more potent symbol of the kind of secularisation opposed by the Vatican than the current socialist government’s policy to allow gay marriage.<\/p>\n

During the beatification ceremony, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins reminded the crowd that marriage should only be “between a man and a woman”.<\/p>\n

The Spanish government is also promoting a law, opposed by the Church, officially to condemn the rule of Franco, who died in 1975.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And to quote the classic bit from “Saturday Night Live” … he’s still dead. <\/p>\n

Photo: Spanish students hold photos of martyrs. By Chris Helgren<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was an event that mingled pomp and politics in a way that is rare for a ceremony that was billed as strictly spiritual. But it resulted in a beatification for the record books: The Vatican held the biggest mass beatification in history on Sunday, putting nearly 500 Catholics killed during the Spanish civil war…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hanging-with-saints"],"yoast_head":"\nBiggest beatification. 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