Ninety years have passed since one of the most violent anti-clerical persecutions in modern history took place: the one unleashed in Spain beginning in 1931, with the expulsion of religious orders, the secularisation of education, and the first attacks on churches and convents.

With the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), hatred against the Church erupted: churches were set ablaze, sacred images were desecrated, and priests, religious and lay faithful were killed simply for carrying a cross or living according to the Gospel. More than seven thousand people, including bishops, priests and religious, were slaughtered; hundreds of churches were destroyed; even children were executed for having attended Mass. These were not casualties of war, but murders committed out of hatred for the faith — just as Jesus had foretold: «You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved» (Mk 13:13).

For the Church, martyrdom is not a tragedy but a gift: the highest testimony of love for Christ. Many of the Spanish martyrs of 1936 have already been beatified, and some have been canonized.

Our Hospitaller Order, too, has paid its tribute, with 95 confreres killed in odium fidei (out of hatred for the faith) and now beatified: 71 in 1992, together with Braulio María Corres, Federico Rubio and their companions; and 24 in 2013, together with Mauricio Íñiguez de Heredia and his companions. Our religious died not only for their faith in Christ, but also out of fidelity to their mission of caring for the sick, even to the point of sacrificing their lives.

The testimonies from those days remain deeply moving. One of the executioners of Blessed Juan Bautista Egozcuezábal Aldaz recounted: «We told him to blaspheme the name of God and the Divine Host, but the religious brother did not even answer us. When we realised that he was praying, we shot him». He was 45 years old. Brother Francisco Javier Ponsa Casallach, barely twenty years old, was warned of the danger he faced and replied: «I am not afraid of death; I am ready. If they come, and if it is God's will, I will gladly give my life!» Before being shot, he asked only for a few minutes to pray.

The martyrs do not hate: their blood is the seed of reconciliation. They died forgiving, and they teach us to forgive and to pray for the conversion of our persecutors and enemies today. Indeed, the age of martyrdom has never ended: even today, throughout the world and also in the West, many Christians risk their lives for their faith.

The example of these martyrs remains a challenge to live in communion with Christ: the only Christian response, carried to its ultimate expression, to hatred and intolerance — a force for reconciliation, forgiveness and peace.