Twenty Catholic priests from Ibiza and Formentera who were killed during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 are set to be beatified at Ibiza Cathedral on Saturday, 17 October, in a ceremony marking a significant moment for the island’s Catholic community.
The ceremony will begin at 11:00 and will be presided over by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Leo XIV.
The priests died over a period of just over five weeks, between 7 August and 13 September 1936. Their ages ranged from 24 to 77, and their lives and ministries were connected to communities across Ibiza and Formentera.
The beatification follows a process that began in 2008 and involved the collection of historical documentation and testimonies, followed by several stages of examination by the Catholic Church.
From a Newly Ordained Priest to a Clergyman Aged 77
The group includes priests with very different life stories and lengths of service.
Juan Torres Torres, the youngest of the twenty, was ordained at Ibiza Cathedral on 6 June 1936. He was killed less than three months later, aged 24.
At the other end of the age range was José Tur Bennassar, born in 1859 and ordained in Valencia in 1884. He was 77 when he died.
Most of the twenty were ordained outside Ibiza. According to the biographical documentation published by the diocese, eleven were ordained in the Diocese of Mallorca, to which Ibiza belonged ecclesiastically at the time, while five received their ordination in Valencia, Barcelona or Orihuela. Four were ordained on the island itself.
Their places of birth were spread across Ibiza, including Ibiza Town, Santa Eulària des Riu, Sant Miquel de Balansat, Sant Jordi de ses Salines, Sant Joan de Labritja, Sant Antoni de Portmany, Sant Llorenç de Balàfia, Santa Agnès de Corona and Jesús.
The Twenty Priests to Be Beatified
The list published by the Diocese of Ibiza includes:
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Juan Torres Torres
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Antonio Tur Costa
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Antonio Roig Guasch
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José Tur Bennassar
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Miguel Planells Tur
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José Ramón Escandell
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Joaquín Cirer Sala
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José Riera Bonet
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Antonio Cardona Vingut
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José Torres Torres
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Mariano Roig Marí
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José Ferrer Guasch
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Antonio Marí Torres
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Ignacio Serra Riera
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Antonio Ramón Orvay
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Mariano Escandell Roig
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Miguel Riera Bonet
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Andrés Tur Tur
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José Tur Ferrer
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José Serra Ribas
The Vatican’s cause for beatification identifies the group as diocesan priests who died in 1936. The Church recognises them as martyrs, concluding through its formal process that they died for their faith.
A Beatification Process Spanning Eighteen Years
The formal cause began on 23 November 2008, when the then Bishop of Ibiza, Vicente Juan Segura, signed the decree opening the diocesan investigation.
After testimonies and documentation had been collected, the diocesan phase concluded on 12 June 2015 and the case was sent to Rome. The Vatican validated the diocesan process on 27 January 2017.
A document known as the Positio, bringing together testimony and biographical evidence, was approved by the historical consultants of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints on 28 January 2025.
The case then passed further theological and final reviews in 2026. On 18 June, Pope Leo XIV authorised the promulgation of the decree approving their beatification.
Beatification is a formal recognition within the Catholic Church. It is distinct from canonisation, the process by which a person is declared a saint.
Commemorative Events Across Ibiza and Formentera
The ceremony forms part of a wider programme organised by the Diocese of Ibiza between 10 October and 6 November.
The programme began on 10 October with the premiere of a hymn dedicated to the martyrs, a commemorative documentary at Ibiza Cathedral and the opening of the exhibition In Memoriam. Ad Honorem at the Pabordía exhibition hall.
On Friday, 16 October, prayers and memorial services are scheduled at locations associated with the priests’ deaths: the Parador and sa Carrossa in Ibiza, the port of La Savina in Formentera, and the church square in Sant Carles. Vespers will take place in Santa Eulària that evening.
A thanksgiving Mass is planned at Ibiza Cathedral on Sunday, 18 October, followed by thanksgiving Masses across the diocese on 24 and 25 October.
The first liturgical feast day of the newly beatified priests will be marked on 6 November, with a Mass in the parish church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Formentera.
For the Diocese of Ibiza, the beatification represents the culmination of a lengthy ecclesiastical process and an opportunity to commemorate twenty priests whose lives ended during one of the most violent periods in the island’s modern history.