Florentino Asensio Barroso

In 1935, the Apostolic Nuncio to Spain, Archbishop Federico Tedeschini, informed Florentino Asensio Barroso that Pope Pius XI wished to appoint him to the episcopal dignity to lead the then-vacant diocese of Barbastro. Out of humility and feeling unworthy of such a charge, the priest attempted to refuse and begged the nuncio to send him instead as a simple servant in any church. Out of obedience to the Holy See, he eventually accepted.

He was consecrated titular bishop of Euroea in Epiro and Apostolic Administrator of Barbastro on January 26, 1936, in Valladolid, by Archbishop Remigio Gandásegui y Gorrochátegui. He took possession of his diocese by proxy on March 8, 1936, and entered it discreetly on March 15 in order to avoid the provocations and anticlerical unrest that were agitating the region following the electoral victory of the Popular Front.

His effective episcopate in Barbastro was extremely short: it lasted only four months and twenty-three days. Despite this very limited period, Bishop Asensio Barroso deployed intense pastoral activity. He undertook the reform of the diocesan curia, organized the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in all parishes, actively encouraged preaching, and supported Catholic Action. He also wrote a major pastoral letter on the unity of Christians, drawing on the Pauline theology of the Mystical Body of Christ.

The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936 opened a period of violent persecution against the Catholic Church. On July 22, 1936, Bishop Asensio Barroso was arrested by armed militiamen at his episcopal residence and placed in detention at the Piarist College (Colegio de los Escolapios). For several weeks, he endured repeated interrogations and numerous humiliations, which he bore with patience and dignity. In the night of August 8, 1936, he was transferred to the cells of the Barbastro town hall. It was there that he suffered appalling torture at the hands of his jailers. One of the militiamen savagely severed his genitals with a pocketknife, amidst the laughter and mockery of the other guards. Despite the atrocity of the mutilation and the significant loss of blood, the bishop uttered no complaint, remaining in prayer and offering his sufferings for the salvation of his diocese. Despite his serious wounds, he was forced to walk to the truck intended to transport him to the town cemetery, tied to another prisoner. All along the way, he repeated that he forgave his executioners. In the early hours of August 9, 1936, Bishop Florentino Asensio Barroso was shot against the wall of the Barbastro cemetery. Not having been killed instantly by the first volley, he lay in agony for several hours among the corpses, praying to God to give him the strength to persevere to the end. His body was then thrown into a mass grave.

After the end of the conflict, the bishop's remains were exhumed and formally identified thanks to the initials marked on his undergarments. A detailed autopsy was performed on April 16, 1993, as part of the instruction of his cause.

The diocesan informative process for his beatification opened on May 20, 1947, and concluded on April 30, 1952. The validity of this inquiry was officially decreed by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on October 4, 1991. The Positio on his martyrdom was published in 1993.

Having been recognized as a martyr of the faith (in odium fidei), Bishop Florentino Asensio Barroso was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 4, 1997, in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican. During the same ceremony, the Pope also beatified Ceferino Jiménez Malla (known as "El Pelé"), a layman of Gypsy origin who was also martyred in Barbastro in August 1936.

To this day, Blessed Florentino Asensio Barroso has not been canonized. In accordance with the rules of the Catholic Church, his canonization will require the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession, which occurred after his beatification.

The spirituality of Bishop Florentino Asensio Barroso is that of the "Good Shepherd" who lays down his life for his sheep, a central theme of the apostolic letter Bonus Pastor by which John Paul II raised him to the honors of the altars. His ministry, although brief, was characterized by an indefatigable zeal for the transmission of the faith, catechesis, and the preaching of the Word of God.

His most striking legacy lies in his testimony of heroic charity and reconciliation. By choosing to explicitly forgive his executioners in the midst of the worst tortures, he vividly embodied the love of Christ on the Cross.

His relics rest today in the Cathedral of Barbastro, within the Chapel of Saint Charles Borromeo (also called the Chapel of the Martyrs). Since 2006, an altarpiece adorned with a polychrome mahogany sculpture created by the artist Tomás Roures has housed his tomb. An adjoining museum space presents personal objects and testimonies related to his life and martyrdom to the faithful and pilgrims.