Blessed Antonio Sáez de Ybarra

Antonio Sáez de Ybarra López de Arcaute, O.F.M., born Ruperto (Hijona, Álava, March 25, 1914 – Azuaga, Badajoz, September 22, 1936), was a Spanish blessed and martyr. He was part of a group of seven Franciscans from the convent of Fuenteovejuna, Córdoba, who were tortured and murdered by militiamen in Azuaga, Badajoz. He was only twenty-two years old at the time of his death. The cause for beatification for the group to which Antonio belonged, along with 498 other martyrs, established that they were killed as members of the Catholic Church. Specifically, for Antonio and his group, the refusal to blaspheme was the reason for their martyrdom. They were ordered to proclaim "Long live Russia, long live the Republic, long live libertarian communism," which they did under duress, but when they were demanded to blaspheme—which would have meant renouncing God—none of them did so, preferring death instead. During the two months they remained imprisoned, they suffered continuous abuse, mockery, and were made into a sadistic spectacle for part of the population. The militiamen who participated in the events, hardened individuals, were left in awe of the Franciscans' courage. Some of them recounted the final moments, especially the mutilations suffered by the superior, Friar Félix Echevarría—who encouraged everyone to remain united, to pray, and to face death. According to the confession of a militiaman, after unsuccessfully trying to force him to blaspheme, Echevarría was beaten, shot twice in the legs, had his eyes gouged out, his ear and tongue cut off, and was finally killed with blows from rifle butts to his mouth and head. Only three days after the deaths, Francoist forces arrived and captured the town and the province. Friar Antonio and his companions were exhumed from a mass grave and buried in the church of Fuenteovejuna.