Honorific Prefix: | Blessed |
José María of Manila | |
Honorific Suffix: | OFMCap |
Birth Date: | 5 September 1880 |
Feast Day: | 6 November[1] |
Venerated In: | Catholic Church |
Birth Name: | Eugenio del Sanz-Orozco Mortera |
Birth Place: | Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines |
Death Place: | Madrid, Spain |
Titles: | Martyr |
Beatified Date: | 13 October 2013 |
Beatified Place: | Tarragona, Spain |
Beatified By: | Angelo Amato |
Major Shrine: | Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, Mandaluyong City |
José María of Manila (Spanish; Castilian: José María de Manila : 5 September 1880 – 17 August 1936) was a Filipino-born Spanish Catholic priest and friar of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. He was martyred in the early phase of the Spanish Civil War, and is the third Filipino to have been declared blessed by the Roman Catholic Church.
José María was born in Manila, Philippines on 5 September 1880 to Spanish parents Don Eugenio del Saz-Orozco de la Oz, the last Spanish Mayor of Manila, and Doña Felisa Mortera y Camacho. His early education took place at Ateneo de Manila University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and University of Santo Tomas.
He left the Philippines when he was 16 years old to study in Spain. His father wanted him to become a lawyer. Having obtained his degree, after practicing law only a few months, he decided he wanted to be a priest. He was ordained on 30 November 1910. Circumstances, however, prevented him from following his plan to return to the land of his birth.[2]
Anti-clericalism escalated in Spain. A military coup in July 1936 precipitated the Spanish Civil War and the Terror Rojo that continued until the end of the conflict. On 17 August 1936, José María was executed by a leftist faction at the gardens of the Cuartel de la Montaña, a military building in Madrid.[2]
On 27 March 2013, Pope Francis approved the findings of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints that José María and 521 other companions were killed because of their Roman Catholic faith, clearing the way for their beatification. They were beatified on 13 October 2013 in Tarragona, Spain.[3]