Pope Leo XIV approves beatification of 80 Spanish Civil War martyrs ahead of Spain visit

On May 22, 2026, Pope Leo XIV signed six decrees from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, authorizing the beatification of 80 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War—referred to as the Martyrs of Santander—in advance of his first papal pilgrimage to Spain scheduled for June 6‑12, 2026.

The group comprises 67 priests, three Carmelites, three seminarians and seven laypeople who were killed in Santander for refusing to abandon their faith. Many were executed, some were thrown into the Cantabrian Sea with their hands and feet bound, and others perished aboard the prison ship “Alfonso Pérez”.

The same decrees also declare four individuals venerable: Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Elias Hoyek, Italian Salesian missionary Constantino Vendrame, Cameroonian Carmelite Brother Jean Thierry, Spanish religious María Ana Alberdi Echezarreta, and Capuchin lay brother Nazareno da Pula.