Page 1, 6th October 1995
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MARTYRDOM IS A profession of faith sealed with the believer's own blood, Pope John Paul II told a crowd gathered last Sunday in St Peter's Square for the beatification of 109 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War and the
French Revolution. At the Mass, attended by thousands of pilgrims from France and Spain, the Pope prayed that "the light of faith, which led them to accept martyrdom, would free the men and women of our time from reli
gious ignorance and slavery to evil, and lead them to true freedom." The 64 French martyrs were among more than 800 priests and religious arrested in the 1790s, who were imprisoned on two rotting ships and left to die slowly of disease and malnutrition. The Pope spoke of their "long Calvary by remaining loyal to their faith and to the Church". The 45 Spanish martyrs died between 1936 and 1939. The Pope told the congregation that they "were not heroes of a human war," but ministers who gave their lives for Christ. At the same ceremony, the Holy Father also beatified a 17th century Italian priest who promoted the education of poor children.
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