8 beatification causes advance, including causes of over 170 martyrs

June 23, 2025

During a June 20 audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV approved the publication of decrees that advance eight beatification causes.

In approving the publication of a decree on a miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Salvador Valera Parra (1816-1889), the Pontiff paved the way for the beatification of the Spanish diocesan priest.

The Pontiff also approved the publication of three decrees of martyrdom, thus paving the way for the beatification of over 170 martyrs:

• Father Manuel Izquierdo Izquierdo and 58 companions from the Diocese of Jaén, killed out of hatred for the faith between 1936 and 1938, during the Spanish Civil War
• Father Antonio Montañés Chiquero and 64 companions, also from the Diocese of Jaén, killed out of hatred for the faith in 1936 and 1937, during the Spanish Civil War
• Father Raimond Cayré, a diocesan priest; Gerard Martin Cendrier, OFM; Roger Vallée, a seminarian; Jean Mestre, a layman; and 46 companions, killed out of hatred of the faith by Nazis in 1944 and 1945, during World War II

Finally, the Pontiff approved the publication of decrees of heroic virtues for four Servants of God, who may now be styled “venerable”:

• Raffaele Mennella (1877-1898), an Italian cleric of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts
• Deacon João Luiz Pozzobon (1904-1985), a Brazilian father of seven who was active in the Schoenstatt movement
• Italian Sister Teresa Tambelli (1884-1964) of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
• Anna Fulgida Bartolacelli (1928-1993), a disabled Italian laywoman who was an active member of the Association of the Silent Workers of the Cross

 

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Further information:

• Pope Leo XIV approves decrees for more than 170 martyrs (Vatican News)