Controversy
A number of controversies have arisen around the beatification of some of these clerics, most of them opposing the notion of these priests being killed for religious hatred and, while not excusing their brutal murders, putting them in the context of the historical moment and questioning the appropriateness of their beatification.
One of the most notable of these has centred around Cruz Laplana y Laguna, bishop of Cuenca, a well-known supporter of the monarchic regime, who since the proclamation of the Second Republic had carried out a number of notorious political, pro right-wing campaigns throughout the province and had established close contacts with military officials such as general Joaquín Fanjul, who would lead the Madrid military uprising on 18 July 1936 in support of Franco's coup. The bishop of Cuenca is described by his biographer as "supreme advisor" to the general, as well as being closely involved with the fascist political party Falange. In 1936 he personally endorsed José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the leader of this party, as a candidate to the 1936 local elections. When the pro-coup uprising in Cuenca failed, the bishop was arrested by Republican militiamen for collaborationism. He was tried for conspiring against the Republican government and executed on 8 August.
The controversy surrounding the beatification of Augustinian friar Gabino Olaso Zabala, listed as a companion of Avelino Rodriguez Alonso, has been different. Friar Zabala was murdered during the civil war and was beatified. However, attention was called to the fact that this priest had been formerly accused of carrying out acts of torture on Filipino friar Mariano Dacanay, in the days when friar Olaso was a missionary in the former Spanish colony and the Filipinos were trying to liberate themselves from Spanish rule ".
Read more about this topic: 498 Spanish Martyrs
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