Pope Francis on November 11, 2018, cites the «courageous witness» of Father Theodore Illera del Olmo and fifteen companion martyrs, who were beatified November 10, 2018, in Barcelona. His remarks came after praying the noonday Angelus with 20,000 pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square.
«The Beatification of Father Theodore Illera del Olmo and fifteen companion martyrs took place yesterday at Barcelona,» the Holy Father said. «They were thirteen consecrated persons and three lay faithful. Nine Religious and laymen belonged to the Congregation of Saint Peter in Chains; three were Capuchin religious women of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd and one was a Franciscan of the Sacred Heart. All these new Blesseds were killed for their faith in different places and dates during the war and religious persecution of the last century in Spain. We praise the Lord for these courageous witnesses of His and we applaud them!»
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