Tomás Sitjar Fortiá
Blessed
- Death: 08/19/1936
- Nationality (place of birth): Spain
Tomás Sitjar (1866-1936) was one of the 11 Jesuits who were martyred in Gandía and Valencia, Spain between August 19 and December 29, 1936 at the start of the Spanish Civil War. They had not been living together in community since the Society had been suppressed in Spain four years earlier. Their apostolic work had been greatly restricted, but it did not end until the civil war broke out.
Father Sitjar taught philosophy at a diocesan seminary in Uruguay for eight years before returning to Spain to study theology. He was ordained in 1900 and continued to teach philosophy in seminaries. He served as superior in Tarragona before being chosen to be the rector in Gandía. Sitjar was the first to die. He was imprisoned a week after war erupted; 25 days later he was taken out of town and executed under an olive tree.
Other Martyrs of the secularization era
Originally Collected and edited by: Tom Rochford, SJ
