Juan Elías Medina and 126 companions

At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, the Diocese of Cordoba became the scene of a violent religious persecution led by anti-clerical republican militias. Churches were desecrated and anyone publicly manifesting their attachment to the Catholic Church was hunted down. Arrested on July 22, 1936, while serving as parish priest of Castro del Río, Father Juan Elías Medina spent more than forty days in captivity in the town hall jails. During this difficult period, he transformed his cell into a place of spiritual comfort: he heard the confessions of his fellow detainees, prayed the rosary with them daily, and voluntarily took on the most arduous chores to relieve the other prisoners. Questioned three times by the militiamen who tried to make him deny his ecclesiastical identity, he reaffirmed his vocation with strength: "I am a priest." On the morning of September 25, 1936, he was taken from his cell with 14 companions to be led to the gates of the Castro del Río cemetery. Before being shot, he recited the Office of Compline, solemnly forgave his executioners, and died shouting "Viva Cristo Rey." Among the 126 companions in martyrdom, several destinies testify to the strength of their faith in the face of death: Blanca de Lucía Ortiz (1875-1936), a widow without children, one of the first women to graduate in pharmacy in Spain (in 1905), president of Catholic Action in Palma del Río, arrested in August 1936, tortured, and thrown into the Guadalquivir River; Francisco García León (1920-1936), a 15-year-old adolescent and president of the Catholic Youth of Montoro, arrested on July 20, 1936, for refusing to remove his scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, massacred two days later; Antonio Gaitán Perabad (1920-1936), a 15-year-old young layman from El Carpio, arrested with his father, who refused to flee so as not to leave his father alone and died by firing squad while embracing him on August 21, 1936; Sister María del Consuelo González Rodríguez (1848-1936), a religious of the congregation of the Daughters of the Patronage of Mary, martyred in Baena at the age of 86, the dean of the group.

The cause for the beatification of Juan Elías Medina and his companions was officially opened at the diocesan level on January 16, 2010, in the Cathedral of Córdoba, under the presidency of Bishop Juan José Asenjo, then bishop of the diocese. The diocesan inquiry made it possible to collect numerous testimonies and historical documents proving the reality of their martyrdom in hatred of the faith (in odium fidei). On November 23, 2020, Pope Francis received in audience Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorized the promulgation of the decree formally recognizing the martyrdom of Juan Elías Medina and his 126 companions, thus paving the way for their beatification without the requirement of a miracle.

The solemn beatification ceremony took place on October 16, 2021, in the Cathedral of Cordoba (the Mosque-Cathedral). The celebration was presided over by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, acting as delegate for Pope Francis. More than 3,000 faithful, numerous Spanish bishops, and nearly 200 priests attended. Their liturgical feast was set for September 25, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Juan Elías Medina. They are also celebrated collectively on November 6, during the memorial of the martyrs of the religious persecution of the 20th century in Spain.

The spiritual legacy of the martyrs of Cordoba rests above all on the forgiveness of enemies and love carried to the point of supreme sacrifice. As recalled by Bishop Demetrio Fernández, Bishop of Cordoba, Christian martyrdom is not a memory of resentment toward the executioners, but a celebration of the love of Christ, with the executioners mentioned only to be forgiven. The diversity of the profiles in this group (ranging from the 15-year-old adolescent to the 86-year-old nun, from the country priest to the pioneering pharmacist) shows that holiness and the courage of testimony are accessible to all states of life. During the Angelus on October 17, 2021, Pope Francis emphasized that their fidelity is a source of strength for all Christians, especially those who suffer persecution today throughout the world.