During the civil war in Spain in the 1930s, all churches were closed against worship. Many of the churches were burned. All altars, religious images and objects of worship were destroyed. Bells, chalices, monstrances, and candelabras were melted down and used for the war. All monasteries and convents were emptied and their buildings repurposed. Priests and religious were detailed, jailed or shot without due process in the thousands.
Redemptorists of Cuenca: Six Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War is a stirring biography of the Redemptorist community at San Felipe Neri in the city of Cuenca, Spain. It recounts the community's founding, the lead-up of the civil war in the early 1930s, the turbulent last days of the Redemptorists in hiding or in jail, to the murder of six of the twelve members of their community in July and August 1936.
The poignant stories of the six martyrs are brought to life by quotes from their personal journals. The book concludes with the story of their recognition as martyrs and subsequent beatification on October 13, 2013.