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Martyrs |
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Francisco Castello (1914-1936), |
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“Yes, I am a Catholic.” Francisco Castello was born in Alicante, Spain. During his studies at the chemical institute Sarri in Barcelona he became acquainted with the Jesuit Fr. Ramon Galan, who became his friend and spiritual director. Francisco had a special concern for the poor in Barcelona, later in Lleida in “Canyeret", and eventually also for the workers of “Casa Cros” where he took up the position of chemist. He was a member of the Marian Congregation as well as of Catholic Action and he engaged in the “Federation of Christian Men of Catalonia”. During the persecution of Christians in the Civil War (1936-1939), he was imprisoned for 10 weeks. “Yes, I am a Catholic”. – With these words he replied to the questions he was asked….words for which he had to pay with his life. Before his death he wrote 3 touching letters: one to Maria Pelegri, his fiancée, in which he asked her – if at all possible – to fall in love again and get married; one to Fr. Ramon Galan SJ, his friend and confessor, to whom he sent his humble “intellectual testament – the testament of a scientist”; and one to his family , his sisters and his aunt. In each letter we read that he was resigned to his destiny and that he anticipated impatiently the transition from this world into eternity. Francisco Castello was killed on September 29, 1936 at the cemetery of Lleida. He could have saved his life, had he denied his Catholic faith, but it was more valuable to him than his own life. On March 11, 2001 Francisco Castello was beatified in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. |
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