CAUSA Aloisius Orentius Sola Garriga et xxi Socii, necnon Antonius Matheus Salamero

The Cause concerns 23 “presumed martyrs”: 21 Brothers of the Christian Schools, 1 Capucin and 1 layman.

In Griñón, a town a few kilometres from Madrid, the Brothers have always had their formation house comprising an Aspirantate, a Novitiate and a Scholasticate. In addition to these groups there was also a pavilion reserved for Brothers who were elderly or infirm.

When, on 28th July 1936, the house was attacked by a large group from the F.A.I. (Federacion Anarquista Iberica) and the C.G.T. (Confederacion General de Trabajadores), only about ten religious remained, the others having managed to make their way to Madrid before the arrival of the scoundrels.

They ordered those present to gather in front of the chapel, and while they were doing so, a group of militiamen entered the chapel and began to destroy images, furniture and sacred objects. An employee of the house, José Gorastazu, a very pious and generous man, reprimanded them for what they were doing.  They responded with bullets, killing the brave employee on the spot.

Brother Angel Gregorio, who was a nurse-man, when they searched the infirmary they mistook him for a hospital employee treating the sick. But when he realised that they were going to kill his brothers, he told them: “I am also a religious”. They ordered him to stand in the group in front of the chapel. Without further explanation, the leader of the group commanded a platoon to shoot. The Brothers fell in a heap, pierced by bullets.

Once the massacre was over, they got back into the trucks in which they had arrived. The bodies remained in the place where they had been killed. The people of Griñón were dismayed to learn what had happened. A group of people from the village, together with the judge who carried out the identification, dug a grave and buried them on the same property, with their heads turned towards the chapel. Their names are: