Largest Mass Beatification in Church History

Bishop Cruz Laplana y Laguna was martyred for the faith by the Communists.

Pope Benedict XVI will beatify 498 Spaniards this Sunday, all victims of the Civil War that plagued that country in 1936. The Communist forces of the left viciously sought out and butchered thousands of Catholics: bishops, priests, deacons, religious sisters and laymen. The present Socialist government of Spain, predictably, is questioning the timing of the beatification but the fact that so many is Spain died a martyr's death is undeniable. At least the government will be sending a representative to the ceremony. Reading years back about the countless, sickening Communist atrocities against the Church firmly convinced me in my eternal hostility toward all things Communist. It's about time the world recognizes the truth about this Satanic ideology. Here's an excerpt from the story linked below.

Bishop Cruz Laplana y Laguna was taken prisoner by leftist militiamen two days after the war broke out on July 17, 1936. The mayor of this town in central Spain offered to free him with a ruse: send police into the seminary where he was being held, have the bishop dress as a cop and sneak out.

Laplana y Laguna declined — he would not shed his vestments. Two weeks later, the bishop blessed his killers as they took aim and opened fire. "May God forgive you, as I forgive and bless you," he said, according to a book published by the Spanish Bishops Conference.

The government has clashed with the church by legalizing gay marriage and instituting other social reforms, but has taken care not to pick a fight this time. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero says he respects the beatification as much as he respects the civil war atonement bill. Jose Andres Torres Mora, a Socialist lawmaker who sponsored the war amends bill, will be among those at the beatification ceremony in St. Peter's Square.

Torres Mora's great-uncle, Juan Duarte Martin, is being beatified. He was a 24-year-old deacon when the militia tortured and killed him. "I am honoring him both ways," the lawmaker said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071025/ap_on_re_eu/spain_beatification