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Holiness in Spain: current status of beatification and canonization causes
On June 25, 2026, during several meetings held with the authorities of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints , the Jubilee 2025 Report was delivered. Report on the Causes of Virtues in Spain .
The director of the Office for the Causes of Saints of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Lourdes Grosso , and the assistant director, Fernando del Moral , presented the report to the Prefect of the Dicastery, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro . The Prefect praised the Office's work in compiling the data and preparing the documentation, which is now deposited in the Dicastery's Archives. He also reiterated his gratitude for the Office's collaboration with the Dicastery, acknowledging the initiatives undertaken by the Spanish Episcopal Conference to promote the pastoral care of holiness.
This report complements the one submitted in May 2024, the Jubilee Report 2025: Report on the Causes of Martyrdom from the Religious Persecution of the 20th Century in Spain . It represents the conclusion of the compilation work on the causes of beatification and canonization in Spain (under the title Jubilee Report 2025 ), which consisted of updating the Jubilee Report 2000 , originally prepared by Ramón Fita.
The preparation of this report has allowed for the compilation of extensive material that was previously scattered. For three years, the documentation in the Dicastery's archives was compared with the databases of the Office and each Spanish diocese . Thanks to this work, it is now possible, for the first time, to offer a comprehensive overview of the status of Causes in Spain , excluding those of Spaniards in other parts of the world.
Currently, there are 349 open causes with a total of 3,344 candidates: 53 for martyrdom (48 of them from the religious persecution of the 20th century in Spain); 292 for virtue; 1 for offering one's life; and 1 for equivalent canonization. Fifty-seven dioceses are involved, out of a total of 70 in Spain.
Currently, 42 of these causes are still in the diocesan phase, and of those in the Roman phase, the heroic virtues of 148 have been declared . These causes include representatives from all sectors of the People of God: bishops, priests, deacons, religious, seminarians, lay people, parents, young people, and children. There are a large number of founders, 82 , of whom 71 are founders of religious institutes and 11 of secular institutes.
Furthermore, the number of blessed individuals (including the decrees of martyrdom from 2026) is 2,449 , of whom 2,404 are martyrs of the 20th-century religious persecution in Spain. The other 45 are causes for beatification based on virtue and include 2 cardinals, 1 diocesan bishop, 7 diocesan priests, 4 religious priests, 2 religious brothers, 21 religious sisters, and 7 lay people.
From the Office for the Causes of Saints, encouraged by the example of so many witnesses, we make our own the exhortation of Pope Leo XIV: "Holiness is not an option among many nor an abstract ideal; it has to do with the very identity of each person who wants to participate in the life of the Risen One" (12-6-2026).
Translation from Source: https://www.conferenciaepiscopal.es/santidad-en-espana-actualidad/
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