Martyrs of Turon

The martyrs of Turon were a group of eight De La Salle Brothers and a Passionist priest who were executed by revolutionaries in Spain in October 1934. They were canonized in 1999 by Pope John Paul II.

At the time Spain was a deeply divided nation, with left-wing and right-wing factions at odds with each other. The Catholic Church was generally associated with the right, while the Republican government of the time leaned to the left, and left-wing factions such as the Anarchists and Communists commanded wide popular support. It was against this background the Christian Brothers of Turon found themselves.

In 1934 Turón, a coal-mining town in the Asturias Province in Northwestern Spain, was the centre of anti-government and anticlerical hostility in the years prior to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The eight de la Salle brothers were involved in an educational mission in the town of Turón in Asturias, living in a community there and teaching in a church school. The Brothers were known to defy the ban on teaching religion and they openly escorted their students to Sunday Mass.

In October 1934 following the calling of a general strike, the miners of Asturias began to arm and organize themselves, occupying several towns and setting up revolutionary committees. The Brothers' school was an irritant to the radicals in charge of the town because of the religious influence it exerted on the young. On Friday 5 October they occupied Turon, forcing their way into the school on the pretext that arms had been hidden there and arresting the Brothers there. Also present was a Passionist priest, who was visiting to hear confessions. He was also arrested.

Over the next few days they were tried by a revolutionary court and sentenced to death. On 9 October 1934, in the early hours of the morning, they were shot and were then buried in a common grave.

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