A Lay Christian amid a Tumultuous Era

The life of Blessed Manuel Martínez Jiménez brought together several dimensions that, considered as a whole, reveal a lay Christian deeply committed to the society and Church of his time. He was an attorney and agricultural landowner, the benefactor of numerous charitable works, a supporter of priestly vocations, a collaborator with religious institutions, and a member of both Catholic Action and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. He also participated in public life from a Catholic Traditionalist position, within the context of an increasingly polarized Spain.

His death in September 1936 cannot be understood apart from the profound political, social, and religious crisis that led to the Spanish Civil War. Nor should his biography be reduced to the tragic end he suffered. His martyrdom was the culmination of a much longer life marked by prayer, the Eucharist, responsible stewardship of his property, and the constant practice of charity.

His figure is of particular interest to the Vincentian Family. Manuel was not simply an occasional benefactor of people in need: he belonged to the Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul and understood that faith had to become visible in the encounter with those suffering from poverty, marginalization, old age, or abandonment. His life demonstrates how Eucharistic spirituality can be translated into organized charity and how a layperson can place his education, wealth, and social position at the service of others.

An allegorical painting of the 20th-century martyrs in Almería, including Blessed Manuel Martínez Jiménez, featuring the logo used during his beatification. As far as is currently known, there is no portrait of the blessed.

Birth, Family, and Education

Manuel Martínez Jiménez was born on March 12, 1869, in Oria, a town in the province of Almería, Andalusia, Spain. He was baptized the following day, March 13, in the Church of Our Lady of Mercies, now the Basilica of Our Lady of Mercies and the Diocesan Shrine of El Saliente.

His parents were Manuel Martínez and Pastora Jiménez. Following the advice of José María Orberá y Carrión, Bishop of Almería, they entrusted his education to the Jesuits and sent him to study in Orihuela, in the province of Alicante. Diocesan sources emphasize his intelligence and outstanding academic performance. His education culminated in a law degree.

The publicly available sources provide few details about his university years, the professors who influenced him, or his day-to-day legal practice. They do, however, repeatedly identify him as an attorney and describe his work managing numerous agricultural properties. He is also associated with the governing board of the Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Almería, a savings and lending institution with an important social mission and a close historical relationship with the diocese.

Manuel remained unmarried. His state in life allowed him to devote much of his time and resources to religious and social causes. He neither entered a religious community nor received Holy Orders: he lived his Christian vocation as a layman, through his professional, financial, civic, and ecclesial responsibilities.

The Eucharist at the Center of His Life

The surviving biographical accounts emphasize a fundamental characteristic of his spirituality: he attended Mass and received Communion daily. The Eucharist does not appear in his life as an isolated or purely private practice, but as the source of a concrete and sustained commitment.

In Manuel’s life, there was a direct relationship between the Eucharistic table and service to the poor. Prayer nourished action; communion with Christ continued in the recognition of the dignity of people in need. This relationship between the Eucharist and charity is one of the clearest features of his spiritual life.

The practice of daily Communion also held particular significance in the Catholicism of the early 20th century. At a time when frequent reception of the Eucharist was not yet as widespread as it would later become, daily Communion expressed an intense and disciplined spiritual life. In Manuel’s case, it did not lead him to withdraw from social needs, but to become more deeply involved in addressing them.

Those who knew him remembered that his Christian witness drew other people toward God and that he was publicly known for his particular concern for the poor. Manuel’s spirituality did not depend on grand speeches. It was manifested in regular prayer, personal simplicity, generosity, and the ability to sustain commitments over many years.

Stewardship as a Responsibility

Manuel owned and managed agricultural estates. The sources describe him as a diligent administrator, but emphasize that he did not regard property as a right detached from any moral obligation. The proceeds from his holdings funded charitable gifts, care institutions, religious projects, and assistance for people with limited resources.

It is difficult to quantify all his charitable works. The diocesan record speaks of innumerable acts of assistance, many of which were probably carried out discreetly and without leaving a complete record. Some of his initiatives, however, went beyond individual almsgiving and became permanent institutions.

This distinction is important. Manuel provided immediate aid, but he also helped establish institutions capable of continuing to care for people experiencing poverty. His charity did not consist only of relieving an urgent need; he sought to provide continuity, protection, and accompaniment.

In his will, signed in May 1931, he directed that his properties and possessions be connected to the service of the poor in Tíjola and Oria. He named the two Sagrada Familia Homes that he had promoted in those towns as beneficiaries of the bare ownership of his property. In this way, his desire to serve did not end with his death: it was incorporated into the social purpose of his estate.

The Sagrada Familia Homes

Among his best-known achievements were the Sagrada Familia Homes in Tíjola and Oria. In the language of the period, the Spanish word asilo referred to an institution intended to shelter, care for, or educate people who could not support themselves or lacked adequate family assistance, particularly older adults, orphans, and people living in poverty.

The brief available biographies do not allow us to reconstruct the precise opening dates, internal organization, or complete history of both institutions. They do, however, clearly attribute their foundation or principal endowment to Manuel and show that they occupied a central place in his charitable mission.

The institution in Tíjola continued to operate after his death. Later official documentation mentions a Sagrada Familia school administered by the Daughters of Charity, placing one of Manuel’s foundations within a fully Vincentian setting. This fact broadens the significance of his membership in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul: his relationship with the Vincentian tradition was not limited to participation in an association but also extended to institutions supported or administered by the Daughters of Charity.

The homes expressed a profoundly Christian conviction: a person in need should not be treated as a burden or abandoned to his or her fate. That person needed a place where he or she could be welcomed, cared for, and recognized. Manuel transformed part of his wealth into precisely that possibility of welcome.

A Member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Manuel Martínez Jiménez’s membership in the Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul is confirmed by the Diocese of Almería, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, and publications of the Council General International of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

In traditional Spanish terminology, he was described as a conferenciante de San Vicente de Paúl—an active member of a Conference. Vincentian compilations place his participation between the 1910s and the 1930s. The public sources consulted do not specify the exact date he joined, the name of his local Conference, any offices he may have held, or the families he visited. It would therefore be irresponsible to attribute specific responsibilities to him that have not been documented.

What can be affirmed is that his way of practicing charity was clearly consistent with the spirit of the Conferences founded by Blessed Frédéric Ozanam and his companions. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul invites its members to pursue holiness in community and through personal service to those experiencing poverty. Its mission is not simply to distribute material resources, but to draw near, listen, accompany, and recognize a brother or sister in every person.

Manuel’s Vincentian participation formed part of a broader network of commitments. His financial assistance, the founding of charitable homes, his collaboration with religious communities, and his care for socially excluded people reveal a form of charity that sought to combine personal relationships with organized responses.

His membership in the Conferences is especially significant because it shows that he did not wish to practice charity alone. Although he had resources of his own, he joined a lay fraternity that discerned needs and acted as a community. In the Vincentian tradition, collaboration helps protect service from improvisation, paternalism, and the desire for personal recognition.

A Charity That Also Sought Justice

One of the most revealing accounts about Manuel concerns his relationship with the Roma population. His diocesan biography states that he was the only landowner in his town who dared to employ Roma workers.

The wording reflects both Manuel’s personal decision and the severe social prejudice suffered by the Roma people at the time. He was not merely assisting people after they had been excluded; he was opening access to employment that others denied them because of their ethnic background.

This conduct helps explain why the sources describe his charity as a pursuit of justice. Almsgiving could relieve an immediate need, but employment offered recognition, responsibility, and a means of support. Manuel appears to have understood that Christian charity could not be limited to repairing some of the consequences of exclusion: it also had to challenge the social barriers that produced it.

There is not enough evidence to reconstruct the working conditions on his estates or to make a complete assessment of his relationships with his workers. Nevertheless, the preserved account has undeniable value: in an environment marked by discrimination, he made a decision that contradicted the prejudices of those around him.

For a Vincentian reading of his life, this gesture is particularly eloquent. St. Vincent de Paul and Frédéric Ozanam each insisted, in their respective historical contexts, that people who are poor are not passive objects of charity. They possess dignity, abilities, and rights. Offering employment to people rejected by society was a concrete way of recognizing that dignity.

A Collaborator with the Little Sisters of the Poor

Manuel also collaborated with the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Congregation devoted primarily to welcoming and caring for older adults with limited resources. The sources do not describe the specific nature or duration of this collaboration, but include it among his best-known charitable commitments.

Care for older people living in poverty addressed an especially serious need. Before the development of modern public pension systems and social services, old age could quickly lead to destitution when a person lacked family support, property, or the ability to continue working.

His collaboration with the Little Sisters of the Poor and his establishment of the Sagrada Familia Homes show that Manuel paid attention to needs requiring long-term care. He was not interested only in visible emergencies. He supported works capable of accompanying human vulnerability for months or years.

Vocations and Priestly Formation

Another important dimension of his apostolate was his support for priestly vocations. Manuel established a substantial scholarship for the seminary, intended to assist men who felt called to the priesthood but lacked sufficient financial resources.

The initiative was consistent with his understanding of material possessions. Wealth should create opportunities that would otherwise be reserved for those who could afford them. In this case, his assistance ensured that poverty would not prevent a young man from completing his discernment and ecclesiastical studies.

In 1926, Bishop Bernardo Martínez Noval of Almería appointed him vice president of the Diocesan Board for Ecclesiastical Vocations. The appointment indicates that his support for the seminary was not an isolated gesture. The diocese recognized him as someone capable of promoting, organizing, and sustaining this ministry.

His interest in vocations should not be interpreted as diminishing the role of the laity. He himself is an example of a fully developed lay vocation. Precisely from his position as a layman, he understood that the Church’s different vocations need one another.

Service to the Diocesan Church

Manuel was a benefactor of the Basilica of Our Lady of Mercies in Oria, the church where he had been baptized. His patronage and organizational abilities led Bishop Martínez Noval to entrust him with work related to the monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Almería.

Later, Bishop Diego Ventaja Milán appointed him vice president of the Diocesan Board of Catholic Action. This responsibility placed him among the diocese’s leading lay collaborators during a period of intense political and religious tension.

Catholic Action sought to form laypeople and encourage their participation in the Church’s mission. For Manuel, that participation encompassed many different areas: assistance to the poor, institutional support, the promotion of vocations, the public defense of his convictions, and collaboration with diocesan leadership.

His presence on the governing board of the Monte de Piedad in Almería also demonstrates his interest in financial instruments with a social purpose. Historically, such institutions had been established to offer loans on more humane terms and to combat usurious practices. The Almería institution conducted savings, lending, and social-welfare activities under the historical patronage of the bishop.

His Political Involvement

A complete biography should not conceal the fact that Manuel was also politically active. Historians of the political right in Almería identify him as the provincial leader of the Traditionalist Communion, a Catholic and monarchist movement opposed to liberal republicanism and historically associated with Carlism.

He also appears in connection with the provincial organization of the Women’s Traditionalist Association. According to the available studies, he held its formal presidency, while Juan Banqueri Salazar served as secretary and exercised much of its effective leadership.

This dimension of his life requires us to avoid an overly simplified portrayal. Manuel was not indifferent to politics, nor was he completely removed from the ideological conflicts of the Second Republic. He defended confessional and Traditionalist positions at a time when a considerable portion of Spanish Catholicism felt threatened by the secularizing policies of the new regime.

Some studies of Almería’s Traditionalist networks place the provincial leadership within the circle of contacts maintained before the July 1936 military uprising. The public documentation consulted, however, does not make it possible to determine Manuel’s precise personal involvement in those contacts or to attribute specific actions to him. He should therefore be presented neither as entirely removed from the political confrontation nor as responsible for acts that are not sufficiently documented.

What is certain is that he did not die as a combatant at the front, following a trial with due process, or as the result of a judicial sentence. He was arrested, imprisoned, and murdered without trial. His Catholic identity, diocesan responsibilities, and well-known religious and charitable activity made him an especially visible figure.

Acknowledging his political affiliation neither diminishes the seriousness of his murder nor justifies the violence inflicted upon him. Rather, it helps place his life within its full historical context and prevents memory from being turned into propaganda.

The Second Republic and the Religious Question

The Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed in April 1931 and undertook an extensive program of political, educational, social, and territorial reforms. The Constitution adopted that year declared that the state had no official religion and recognized freedom of conscience and worship.

Some of its provisions, however, provoked intense opposition among Catholics. Article 26 ended state financial support for the Church, subjected religious orders to special legislation, and restricted their participation in education. The secularization of cemeteries, civil marriage, divorce, and other reforms were regarded by their supporters as necessary steps toward modernizing the state and guaranteeing equality among citizens; many Catholics experienced them as hostile measures restricting the Church’s social presence.

The religious question became intertwined with other profound conflicts: economic inequality, concentrated land ownership, rural poverty, labor demands, anticlericalism, regional movements, a crisis of political representation, and fear of social revolution. Parts of the labor movement regarded the Church as an ally of property-owning classes and the traditional social order. Broad Catholic sectors, in turn, associated revolutionary organizations with the destruction of religion and social stability.

Political violence did not begin in 1936. During the republican period, Spain experienced uprisings, attacks, the burning of religious buildings, government repression, and street clashes. At the same time, sectors of the political right became radicalized, and some ceased to trust democratic institutions. Revolutionary positions and a willingness to employ violence also grew within parts of the left.

Following the February 1936 elections, won by the Popular Front coalition, tensions increased. The assassination of political leaders, labor conflicts, land occupations, attacks against churches and labor organizations, and military conspiracies fed a spiral of fear and hostility.

On July 17 and 18, 1936, part of the Spanish military rebelled against the government of the Republic. The coup failed to take control of the entire country, leaving Spain divided. A civil war began and would continue until April 1939.

Violence in Both Rear-Guard Zones

The Civil War produced massive violence in both territories. In the zone controlled by the insurgents, military and political repression targeted republicans, trade unionists, left-wing activists, teachers, public officials, and others regarded as enemies of the new order. That repression continued after the war ended through executions, imprisonment, political purges, and exile.

In the republican rear guard, the partial failure of the coup caused the collapse or loss of control of many state institutions. Armed militias and revolutionary committees assumed de facto power in numerous places. During the first months, arbitrary arrests, looting, church burnings, and the murders of rebel military officers, landowners, right-wing activists, priests, religious, and laypeople publicly known for their Catholic commitment took place.

Not all republican citizens approved of these actions. Some authorities and ordinary people attempted to protect those being persecuted, and the government gradually sought to restore institutional control and replace committee violence with judicial proceedings. Nevertheless, during the summer and fall of 1936, the state’s effective authority was extremely limited in many areas.

The automatic identification of Catholicism with the political right and support for the uprising turned many people into targets. Some were politically active; others were persecuted solely because they were priests, members of religious communities, participants in Catholic associations, or publicly recognized believers. In many cases, there was no individual investigation, trial, or opportunity for a defense.

Presenting this context neutrally requires acknowledging all these realities: the military coup that triggered the war; the earlier erosion of democracy and political radicalization; the repression carried out by the insurgents; revolutionary violence in the republican rear guard; and the fact that no political or religious affiliation justifies torture or extrajudicial killing.

Almería during the First Months of the War

The military uprising reached Almería on July 21, 1936, and failed. The province remained under republican control throughout the war. Following the defeat of the insurgents, militia groups occupied the streets, and revolutionary committees acquired considerable power.

Attacks on religious buildings began immediately. Several churches in the provincial capital were burned, and numerous sacred images and liturgical objects were destroyed. Priests, members of religious communities, and laypeople identified with Catholic organizations were arrested.

Historical studies of the province record 306 deaths caused by militia repression during July, August, and September 1936, followed by another 86 in October. The victims included clergy and members of religious communities, but also politicians, landowners, professionals, and people known for their association with Catholicism.

The arrival of Civil Governor Gabriel Morón Díaz in October 1936 helped restore state authority, dismantle the so-called rule of the committees, and significantly reduce extrajudicial killings. Manuel died before this relative stabilization, during the most violent period in the Almería rear guard.

His Return from the Holy Land and Arrest

When the Civil War began, Manuel was on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Reports of violence and the persecution of people known for their Catholic activism made his return dangerous. Nevertheless, he decided to go home.

Diocesan sources interpret this decision as an act of courage and faithfulness. Manuel knew that his public prominence, his responsibilities in Catholic Action, and his political and religious convictions could make him a target. Even so, he returned to his homeland and did not attempt to remain safely abroad.

Three days after his arrival, he was arrested in Tíjola. There is no evidence that he was given an ordinary judicial trial. He was imprisoned in the convent of the Adoratrices in Almería, which had been converted into a detention center.

There he encountered Diego Ventaja Milán, Bishop of Almería, and Manuel Medina Olmos, Bishop of Guadix. Both bishops were murdered on August 30, 1936, and beatified in 1993. The prison held priests, religious, and laypeople who had been arrested in different parts of the province.

Manuel was later transferred to the Militia Barracks. He was 67 years old. His age, the absence of a trial, and his status as a prisoner demonstrate that he posed no immediate military threat. He was in the hands of groups acting within the atmosphere of violence and lawlessness that marked those first months.

The Cantavieja Well

On the night of September 12–13, 1936, a group of prisoners was removed from their places of detention and taken to a site known as the Cantavieja Well, within the municipality of Tahal.

The group included priests, Brothers of the Christian Schools, and several laypeople. José Álvarez-Benavides y de la Torre, dean of the cathedral chapter of Almería, whose name heads the cause for the beatification of the 115 martyrs, was also among them.

The Cantavieja Well was a deep shaft used to dispose of the victims’ bodies. According to the account published by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the prisoners were led one by one to the edge. There they were shot in the head or chest and thrown inside. Some fell while still alive. Moans and religious invocations could be heard from the bottom, after which the killers fired additional shots down the shaft.

Manuel Martínez Jiménez was murdered there on September 13, 1936.

Diocesan biographies also preserve the account that, before killing him, his executioners cut off the hands with which he had distributed so much assistance and performed so many charitable works. This detail is preserved in testimonial memories from the cause and repeated in ecclesial biographies, although the general summary published by the Dicastery does not specify the injuries suffered by each individual victim.

The cruelty of his death should not become a sensationalist device. Its true meaning can be understood only in light of the life that preceded it. His mutilated hands unintentionally symbolize a life devoted to sharing: managing resources, employing people without discrimination, supporting charitable homes, assisting vocations, and personally serving the poor.

Photograph taken at the mouth of the Cantavieja well, probably from 1941. Source: Documents related to the General Case at the National Historical Archive, Subdirectorate General of State Archives, Ministry of Culture, Spain, file 1158, file 2, page 49.

Why Does the Church Recognize Him as a Martyr?

In ordinary language, the word “martyr” may be applied to anyone who suffers or dies for a cause. In the Catholic Church, however, it has a more precise meaning. For martyrdom to be recognized, the Church examines whether a person was killed out of hatred for the faith or for a virtue connected with it, and whether that person accepted death while remaining faithful to Christ.

The Church’s declaration does not constitute a criminal judgment against each perpetrator, nor does it endorse every political position held by the victim. It also does not canonize either side in the Spanish Civil War. It concerns the religious motivation of the persecution and the Christian manner in which the person faced death.

The cause headed by José Álvarez-Benavides y de la Torre brought together 115 victims from the Diocese of Almería: 95 priests and 20 laypeople. The diocesan investigation opened on April 11, 1995, and concluded on May 21, 1998. More than five hundred witnesses gave testimony, and over ten thousand pages of documentation were collected. The cause was later expanded to include additional candidates and examined in Rome.

On June 14, 2016, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing their martyrdom. The beatification was celebrated on March 25, 2017, at the Exhibition and Conference Center in Aguadulce, within the Almería municipality of Roquetas de Mar. Cardinal Angelo Amato, then prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presided over the celebration as Pope Francis’s representative.

Manuel’s individual memorial is observed on September 13, the anniversary of his death. The 20th-century martyrs of Spain also have a collective liturgical memorial on November 6.

His Remains and His Testamentary Wishes

In his 1931 will, Manuel expressed the desire that, if he died outside Oria, his remains should be transferred either to his family tomb in the town cemetery or to the Sagrada Familia Chapel in the Basilica of Our Lady of Mercies.

After the beatification process, the relics of many of the martyrs were placed in a diocesan crypt. The Almería press reported the distress of some relatives because the remains were not returned to the places originally requested. In Manuel’s case, his wish to be laid to rest in Oria could not be fulfilled in its entirety.

Although this episode occurred after his beatification, it recalls the deep attachment he maintained throughout his life to his hometown, its basilica, and the charitable works he had established there.

Principal Features of His Spirituality

The spirituality of Manuel Martínez Jiménez can be understood through several closely connected elements.

1. A Eucharistic Faith: Daily Mass and Communion were at the center of his interior life. In the Eucharist, he found the strength to serve and the measure of a life given to others. His faith did not separate worship from charity.
2. A Fully Embraced Lay Vocation: Manuel did not need to leave the professional world in order to live an intense Christian vocation. He was an attorney, farmer, administrator, and member of civil and ecclesial institutions. His holiness developed through the everyday use of money, property, work, and social responsibility.
3. Personal and Organized Charity: He assisted people in need directly, but he also promoted permanent institutions. The charitable homes, the scholarship for seminarians, and the provisions of his will reveal foresight and a desire for continuity.
4. A Preferential Concern for the Poor: Those who knew him emphasized his particular love for people experiencing poverty. This concern was expressed through almsgiving, institutions of welcome, collaboration with charitable congregations, and employment decisions that resisted discrimination.
5. Justice as a Dimension of Charity: His employment of Roma workers shows that, at least in specific situations, he understood that assisting excluded people was not enough. They also needed opportunities, and society’s prejudices had to be challenged.
6. Ecclesial Communion: His commitment was not individualistic. He participated in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Catholic Action, the Diocesan Board for Ecclesiastical Vocations, the Monte de Piedad, and other Church-related works. He worked alongside laypeople, priests, bishops, and religious communities.
7. Faithfulness in the Face of Danger: His return from the Holy Land, despite knowing the risk he faced, reveals a desire to remain with his community. We do not know the specific thoughts that accompanied him in prison, but the canonical investigation concluded that he faced death while remaining faithful to his beliefs.

A Blessed Especially Close to the Vincentian Family

Manuel Martínez Jiménez belongs to the broad group of saints, blesseds, venerables, and Servants of God who were members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. His inclusion among these Vincentian witnesses demonstrates that the vocation of the Conferences is not limited to effective humanitarian action. It seeks the sanctification of its members through an encounter with Christ in people who are poor.

His life offers several relevant lessons for the Vincentian Family today.

• First, it reminds us that charity needs spiritual roots. Without prayer, it risks becoming mere activism; without real contact with people in need, prayer can become self-enclosed. In Manuel, the Eucharist and action formed a single reality.
• Second, his life teaches that material resources can be administered as a mission. Not every Vincentian possesses substantial wealth, but everyone has time, knowledge, relationships, and abilities. The decisive question is not how much a person possesses, but how—and for whom—it is used.
• Third, he demonstrates the importance of establishing works that endure. Responding to an emergency is necessary, but so is building institutions, promoting employment opportunities, and ensuring that assistance continues when the benefactor is no longer present.
• Fourth, his actions toward Roma workers invite us to examine present-day forms of exclusion. Vincentian charity cannot passively accept that certain groups are denied employment, housing, education, or social participation because of their origin, ethnicity, nationality, or economic condition.
• Finally, his life reminds us that a Christian’s public engagement requires discernment. Manuel participated in politics using the categories of his time, within an extremely polarized society. His history invites us not to confuse faith with an ideology, but also not to withdraw faith from social and political concerns. Service to the common good requires conviction, prudence, dialogue, and an unequivocal rejection of violence.

A Memory at the Service of Reconciliation

Remembering Manuel Martínez Jiménez should not serve to reopen old hostilities or turn victims into political weapons. The history of the Spanish Civil War requires truth, rigor, and compassion toward everyone who suffered persecution, repression, imprisonment, exile, or death, regardless of the territory in which they became trapped.

The Church presents its martyrs as witnesses to Christ, not as symbols of revenge. Pope Francis himself, referring to the martyrs of Almería, emphasized their witness to the Gospel of peace and fraternal reconciliation.

The best way to honor Manuel is not to repeat the divisions that destroyed social coexistence, but to continue what gave meaning to his life: celebrating the Eucharist, serving the poor, defending the dignity of people who suffer discrimination, supporting vocations, and building communities capable of overcoming hatred.

His was the life of a layman who allowed himself to be transformed by faith and sought to turn his possessions into instruments of mercy. His violent death could not erase that work. On the contrary, the memory of his hands, devoted to service, remains a call to the Vincentian Family to continue drawing near to the poor not from a distance, but in a spirit of fraternity.