Angel Cuartas Cristóbal and 8 companions

The lives of these nine young men were entirely centered on their priestly formation and their unwavering fidelity to their vocation, in a context of growing political tension and religious persecution in Spain starting in 1931. Despite repeated warnings from their families and parish priests, who sensed the dangers, none of them wished to abandon the seminary. Their martyrdom took place in two distinct phases: The October 1934 revolution in Oviedo: On October 5, 1934, a violent leftist insurrection broke out in Asturias. The following day, October 6, the major seminary of Oviedo was stormed and set on fire by revolutionaries. The seminarians were forced to flee. A small group composed of Ángel Cuartas Cristóbal, Mariano Suárez Fernández, Jesús Prieto López, César Gonzalo Zurro Fanjul, José María Fernández Martínez, and Juan José Castañón Fernández took refuge in the cellar of a building near the San Lázaro district. After spending the night in prayer, one of them went out on the morning of October 7 to look for food. Captured by militiamen, he was forced to reveal their hiding place. The six seminarians were dragged into the street amidst the shouts of the crowd demanding their death ("¡Matadlos, que son curas!" / "Kill them, they are priests!"). They were shot that same day on the side of the road at the exit of Oviedo. Only one of their companions present in the cellar escaped death because, not having yet received the tonsure, he was not identified as a member of the clergy. The Spanish Civil War (1936-1937): The other three seminarians were murdered after the outbreak of the Civil War: - Luis Prado García hid with relatives in Avilés, but he was discovered and transferred to Gijón. On September 4, 1936, he was shot with eleven bullets while shouting "¡Viva Cristo Rey!". - Manuel Olay Colunga managed to hide until June 18, 1937, the date of his arrest. Imprisoned in Gijón, he was sent to forced labor to fortify the lines at San Esteban de las Cruces. On September 22, 1937, he was shot in the back at Villafría. Before his death, he sent this message to his family: "decid a los de casa que muero dando gritos a Cristo Rey" ("tell those at home that I die shouting to Christ the King"). - Sixto Alonso Hevia was arrested, then forcibly mobilized and sent to the front at the Ventaniella pass. On May 27, 1937, he was stabbed to death by militiamen while he was praying. He had left this instruction to his parents: "Tenéis que perdonar" ("You must forgive").

The reputation of martyrdom of these nine seminarians spread rapidly throughout the Diocese of Oviedo. From the first decades after their death, the testimonies of their former companions and their families were collected.

The cause for beatification was officially introduced with the obtaining of the nihil obstat decree on May 12, 1993. The diocesan inquiry, conducted with rigor by a historical commission to analyze the context of the time, was closed and sent to Rome. The Positio, a 900-page dossier demonstrating that they were killed in hatred of the faith (in odium fidei) and that they accepted death for the love of Christ while forgiving their executioners, was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

On June 21, 2018, the Congress of Theologians of the Congregation voted unanimously in favor of recognizing their martyrdom. On November 7, 2018, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree officially recognizing their martyrdom, thus paving the way for their beatification without the requirement of a miracle.

The beatification ceremony of Ángel Cuartas Cristóbal and his 8 companions was celebrated on Saturday, March 9, 2019, at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Holy Savior of Oviedo. The celebration was presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Francis. During the entrance procession, the relics of the new blesseds were carried in the famous "Box of the Agates" (Caja de las Ágatas), a masterpiece of 10th-century pre-Romanesque goldsmithing (donated to the Church in 910 by King Alfonso III), kept in the Holy Chamber (Cámara Santa) of the cathedral. Their mortal remains now rest in the main chapel of the Metropolitan Seminary of Oviedo. Their liturgical memorial is set for November 6, the day on which the Church in Spain commemorates all the martyrs of the 20th century.

The spiritual legacy of these nine seminarians lies in their absolute fidelity to God's call, lived out until the supreme gift of their lives. During the beatification, the Archbishop of Oviedo, Mgr Jesús Sanz Montes, emphasized that they "wanted to be priests, but God chose for them the altar of the greatest sacrifice."

Their example is particularly proposed to seminarians and the youth of today as a model of courage in the face of the indifference or hostility of the contemporary world. They did not seek martyrdom—they tried to hide and preserve their lives—but when the trial presented itself, they faced it with a supernatural strength, nourished by the prayer of the Rosary and Eucharistic adoration.

At the seminary of Oviedo, the memory of these young martyrs remains alive, symbolized by the desks they left empty, inviting new generations to respond with the same generosity to the Lord's call.