Blessed Josep Casas Ros

Josep Casas Ros (Ordal, Alt Penedès, August 19, 1916 – Moja, Alt Penedès, September 29, 1936) was a Catalan seminarian murdered during the religious persecution at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. He was born in Ordal on August 19, 1916. On May 9, 1925, he received confirmation at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Vilafranca del Penedès from Bishop Vidal i Barraquer. After some hesitation, he entered the Conciliar Seminary of Barcelona on September 24, 1928. During the religious persecution that occurred at the start of the Spanish Civil War, he took refuge in his family home in Ordal. On September 27, 1936, he was arrested by a group of militiamen, who executed him by firing squad the following day, September 28, along with his cousin, the Carmelite friar Joaquim de Sant Josep, in the town of Moja, in the Alt Penedès. Pope John Paul II initiated his cause for beatification on June 22, 2004. Subsequently, Pope Benedict XVI approved his beatification on October 28, 2007, along with 497 other martyrs. His body was exhumed on May 24, 1945, to be moved to his village cemetery. His mortal remains stayed in the Ordal parish cemetery until his beatification in 2007. They currently rest in the Chapel of the Mare de Déu de la Fontsanta in the Parish of Sant Esteve d'Ordal.