On the occasion of the beatification, Pope John Paul II spoke of these martyrs in his homily: “What examples of serenity and Christian hope! All these new Blesseds and many other anonymous martyrs paid with their blood for the hatred of the faith and the Church that was unleashed with religious persecution and the outbreak of civil war, that great tragedy experienced in Spain in the 20th century. In those terrible years, many priests, religious and lay people were killed simply because they were active members of the Church. The new Blesseds, who today are raised to the honours of the altar, were not involved in political or ideological struggles, they did not want to intervene… They died solely for religious reasons. Now, with this solemn proclamation of martyrdom, the Church wishes to recognise in those men and women an example of courage and constancy in the faith, aided by the grace of God. They are for us a model of consistency with the truth they professed and at the same time they honour the noble Spanish people and the Church.”
It is worth remembering that this group includes the first martyrs of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Sister Carmen Moreno Benitez and Sister Amparo Carbonell Muñoz, who were shot at dawn on 6 September 1936 at the Barcelona racecourse.
A few days earlier, they had been arrested together with a third sister, who was ill and had just been discharged from hospital, and who was released. Sister Carmen, 51, and Sister Amparo, 43, had the opportunity to save their lives. Instead, they decided to remain with their sister, Sister Carmen Xammar, who had just undergone surgery and was not in a condition to travel. The key to understanding the generous sacrifice of the protomartyrs, who died together not far from their religious house, is fraternal charity. Sister Carmen, with 28 years of religious life, and Sister Amparo, with 13, knew how to combine the concrete need for service with the gospel imitation of Jesus Christ in the gift of life for others at the moment of need. In addition to their faith, they were sustained in this attitude by the good relationship between them, which made them strong and courageous in the trial they experienced and offered.
