01/06/2026
To the young who have not heard of GOMBURZA ๐๐ป๐๐ป๐๐ป
๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก
When people hear the name Spain, many immediatelyโand wronglyโconclude โthe Catholic Church.โ
This confusion is deliberate, and it fuels centuries of anti-Catholic propaganda.
But the truth must be stated plainly:
โSpain is not the Catholic Church.
โ
Spain is a state, governed throughout history by secular monarchs, politicians, generals, and ideologies.
The Catholic Church is not a nation, not an empire, and not a political regime.
To blame the Church for the actions of the Spanish State is not historyโit is slander.
Anti-Catholics persistently accuse Catholics of killing and oppressing people, especially by invoking the Inquisition as a rhetorical weapon.
Yet when we examine actual historyโdocumented, undeniable historyโwe discover the opposite pattern:
โIt is not the Catholic Church that has oppressed the world.
โ
It is the worldโthrough states, empires, and regimesโthat has repeatedly oppressed the Catholic Church.
And nowhere is this clearer than in Spain itself.
๐๐๐ผ๐๐: ๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ - ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐พ๐๐๐๐
Spain was once one of the greatest defenders of Catholicism, sending missionaries across the globe, building churches, and protecting Christian civilization. Spain also produces numbers of Catholic saints.
But Spain also bears a darker chapterโwhen its own State turned violently and persecute the Church.
During the Spanish Civil War (1936โ1939), the Catholic Church did not rule Spain.
The Church did not command armies.
The Church did not issue ex*****on orders.
Instead, the Church was hunted.
๐๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ผ๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐พ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐พ ๐พ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๏ธ๐ฅ
During this period, Spain experienced one of the worst anti-Christian persecutions in modern history.
Approximately 6,800 Catholic clergy and religious were murdered, including:
๐ก๏ธ13 Catholic bishops
๐ก๏ธMore than 4,000 priests and seminarians
๐ก๏ธOver 2,300 monks and friars
๐ก๏ธHundreds of nuns
Their crime was not rebellion.
Their crime was not violence.
Their crime was being Catholic.
Priests were shot simply for wearing a cassock.
Monks were burned alive.
Nuns were humiliated, assaulted, and murdered.
Churches were burned.
The Eucharist was desecrated.
This was not the Church oppressing Spain.
This was the Spanish State and its militias massacring the Church.
๐๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐
These were not abstract numbers. These were real men and women with names, parishes, and blood.
1. St. Pedro Poveda Castroverde โ priest and educator, executed for defending Catholic teaching.
2. St. Josep Samsรณ Elรญas โ parish priest, hunted down and murdered in 1936.
3. St. Fernando Olmedo Reguera โ Capuchin priest, executed for refusing to violate the seal of confession.
4. St. Juan Marรญa de la Cruz โ imprisoned and killed for the faith.
5. St. Josรฉ Marรญa of Manila โ a Filipino priest martyred in Madrid, proving this persecution spared no nation.
6. Entire groupsโ498 martyrs, 522 martyrs, and many moreโwere beatified together because they died together, executed by the State for hatred of the Catholic faith.
Oppressors do not die like this.
Victims do.
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐พ๐๐๐๐? ๐ผ๐๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐๐
This pattern never changes in history:
๐The Church does not execute. The State does.
In Spain:
๐ก๏ธArrests were made by civil authorities
๐ก๏ธKillings were carried out by state-aligned militias
๐ก๏ธDeath was imposed as a political act
The Church did not sentence these clergy.
The Church buried them.
๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Filipinos should recognize this pattern instantly.
GOMBURZAโFathers Gรณmez, Burgos, and Zamoraโwere Catholic priests.
They were executed by the Spanish colonial State in 1872.
Not by the Church.
For being priests.
The Church mourned them.
The State silenced them.
Josรฉ Rizal understood this clearlyโand honored them accordingly.
๐๐๐ฑ๐ข๐๐จ: ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐จ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
๐๐ง the 1920s, the Mexican State declared war on Catholicism:
๐Mass outlawed
๐Priests banned
๐Churches closed
๐Clergy executed
Thousands of priests and faithful were killed.
Once again: The State persecuted.
The Church bled.
๐ผ ๐พ๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐จ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐พ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ
The Spanish massacre is not an exception. It belongs to a long and continuous history.
Periods and Powers That Persecuted Catholics
Pagan Roman Empire โ crucifixions, lions, mass ex*****ons:
๐ก๏ธArian emperors
๐ก๏ธIslamic invasions and caliphates (in many regions)
๐ก๏ธHenry VIIIโs England
๐ก๏ธFrench Revolutionary State
๐ก๏ธSpanish anti-clerical regimes
๐ก๏ธMexican revolutionary government
๐ก๏ธNazi Germany (priests imprisoned in Dachau)
๐ก๏ธCommunist USSR
๐ก๏ธCommunist China
๐ก๏ธCommunist Cuba
๐ก๏ธCommunist Vietnam
๐ก๏ธKKK in the United States
Different flags.
Same hatred.
Same victims.
๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐ฃ๐ฉ๐-๐พ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐พ๐ค๐ก๐ก๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ
The claim that the Catholic Church is historyโs great oppressor collapses under one undeniable fact:
โ
No institution in history has produced more martyrs than the Catholic Church.
Empires kill.
States execute.
Ideologies purge.
The Church endures, buried under the bodies of her saints.
๐พ๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ช๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ: ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฃโ๐จ ๐๐๐ง๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐
Spainโs Catholic martyrs stand as silent witnesses against modern anti-Catholic propaganda.
They testify that:
โ
Spain is not the Catholic Church
โ
The State and the Church are often enemies
โ
The Church has been persecuted, not privileged
From pagan Rome to revolutionary Spain, from England to Mexico, from communism to modern secularism, the truth remains unchanged:
๐When the State seeks absolute power, the Catholic Church must be destroyed first.
And yetโshe still stands.
Not because of kings or armies,
but because she was founded by Christ crucified,
and sustained by the blood of martyrs. โ๏ธ๐ฅ
