Manuel Izquierdo and 123 companions

The testimony of Manuel Izquierdo is part of the violent religious persecution that struck Spain during the Civil War (1936-1939). This group of martyrs, officially designated as "Manuel Izquierdo and 123 companions," brings together 124 Catholics from the Diocese of Jaén: 109 diocesan priests, one cloistered nun, and 14 laypeople. In the summer of 1936, as anti-clerical violence spread throughout the region, Father Manuel Izquierdo, aged 83, categorically refused to abandon his parishioners in Villardompardo despite the obvious threats to his life. On September 28, 1936, he was arrested at his home by Republican militiamen. Dragged away by force, he suffered severe public humiliations (notably being forced to ride a donkey amidst the mockery of the crowd) and atrocious physical torture before being savagely mutilated and murdered in Torredonjimeno. His body, left in the open, was partially devoured by animals before being discreetly buried by local women. Among his 123 martyr companions, several figures illustrate the diversity and depth of this testimony of faith: Father Antonio Montañés Chiquero, Sister Isabel María de San Rafael Aranda Sánchez, Eduardo Infante del Castillo, Dr. Pedro Sandoica y Granados, Father Manuel Valdivia Chica, José Martínez, and a sacristan suffering from a mental disability in Alcalá la Real.

The memory of these witnesses to the faith has remained deeply rooted in the religious history of the province of Jaén. The diocesan process on the martyrdom of Manuel Izquierdo Izquierdo and his companions was officially opened on April 11, 2016, under the episcopate of Bishop Ramón del Hoyo López, under the title of "Process of the martyrdom of Manuel Izquierdo Izquierdo and 129 companions." After a rigorous historical and theological investigation aimed at proving that these individuals had been killed solely because of their faith (in odium fidei) and not for political motives, the file was transmitted to Rome. For procedural reasons with the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the cause was divided into two groups: the group of Manuel Izquierdo Izquierdo and 58 companions, and that of Antonio Montañés Chiquero and 64 companions.

On June 20, 2025, Pope Leo XIV authorized the promulgation of the decrees recognizing the martyrdom of Manuel Izquierdo Izquierdo and his 58 companions, as well as that of Antonio Montañés Chiquero and his 64 companions, thus opening the way for their beatification without the requirement of a miracle. The solemn beatification ceremony for the 124 martyrs of Jaén took place on December 13, 2025, in the Cathedral of the Assumption of Jaén. It was presided over by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Leo XIV, in the presence of the Bishop of Jaén, Mgr Sebastián Chico Martínez, and numerous bishops, priests, and descendants of the martyrs. Their liturgical feast was set for November 6, the day of the collective commemoration of the martyrs of the religious persecution of the 20th century in Spain.

The martyrdom of Manuel Izquierdo and his companions is celebrated by the Church as a supreme testimony of love, forgiveness, and hope. Faced with hatred and blind violence, these priests, this religious sister, and these laypeople chose not to respond with force, but to seal their fidelity to Christ by the gift of their lives, explicitly forgiving their executioners. As Bishop Sebastián Chico Martínez emphasized, their shed blood is a "seed of new life and renewed faith" for the diocese of Jaén and for the universal Church. Their memory invites the faithful of today to perseverance in faith, to reconciliation, and to a courageous witness of the Gospel.