DÍAZ GANDÍA, CARLOS, BL.

Lay martyr; b. Dec. 25, 1907, Ontinyent (Onteniente), Valencia, Spain; d. Aug. 11, 1936 Agullent, Valencia. Cándido Díaz and Vicenta Gandía baptized their son Carlos (Charles) in St. Mary's Church, Onteniente, the day after his birth and ensured he received formation in the faith leading to his confirmation, April 23, 1911. Carlos attended both public and parochial schools. On Nov. 3, 1934, he married Luisa Torró Perdeguer. Their only daughter, María Luisa Díaz Torró, was born eight months before her father's death.

Carlos was known as an authentic Christian, who lived out his vocation as a husband, father, and worker. He is described as energetic, serious-minded, joyful, and possessing a strong personality. Deeply religious, he received the Eucharist frequently, and prayed the rosary at dawn. He enjoyed the fellowship of other Catholics in Christian associations, including the Nocturnal Adoration Society, School of Christ, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and Apostleship of Prayer. He joined the Youth of Catholic Action at age 14, and later the Men of Catholic Action, of which he became president. Although his charity extended to everyone in need, he had a special love of youth and assiduously visited the sick.

Díaz founded catechetical centers in four locations, at which he served as catechist every Sunday throughout the year, despite the weather and having to walk or ride a bicycle for three hours to travel among them. He especially enjoyed organizing theatrical productions at the centers to present moral plays.

He was aware that his activities would attract the attention of the militant anti-Catholics who attained power during the Second Republic. Nevertheless, he fearlessly continued his apostolates and added to them the guarding of the churches, especially Santa María and the Carmelite convent chapel, where the Youth of Catholic Action met nightly. On July 24 during nocturnal Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, he and others offered their lives to God for the salvation of Spain.

When the systematic sacking of the churches began on July 28, 1936, he ran to the church and took the reserved Blessed Sacrament to prevent sacrilege. Thereafter the churches were burned and many Catholics imprisoned. On August 4 the militiamen arrived at the Díaz home, pistols pointed, to arrest him. Initially he was held in a side chapel of San Francisco.

Later he was imprisoned with Fr. Juan Belda, Bl. Rafaél Alonso Gutierrez, Eduardo Latonda Puig, Juan and Vicente Mico Penadés, Gonzalo Gironés Plá, and Luis Mompó Delgado de Molina in the converted church of San Carlos. During his incarceration he suffered maltreatment, but Carlos remained prayerful and serene throughout. On August 6, Díaz, Gutierrez, and Latonda were taken to the neighboring town of Ayelo. There they were subjected to various tortures and beaten before being returned to Onteniente.

During the night of August 11, José María García Marcos, Rafaél Alonso Gutierrez, and Carlos Díaz Gandía were taken by taxi to a place near the village of Agullent for execution. Each shouted "Long live Christ the King!", prior to being shot. Their bodies were left at the site of execution. Díaz and García died immediately from shots in the head. Gutierrez lived for several hours. Díaz's mortal remains were placed in a niche in the cemetery of Agullent. All three martyrs were beatified by Pope John Paul II with José Aparicio Sanz and 232 companions on March 11, 2001.

Feast: Sept. 22.

See Also: spanish civil war, martyrs of, bb; gutiÉrrez, rafael and companions, bb.

Bibliography: v. cÁrcel ortÍ, Martires españoles del siglo XX (Madrid 1995). w. h. carroll, The Last Crusade (Front Royal, Va. 1996). j. pÉrez de urbel, Catholic Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, tr. m. f. ingrams (Kansas City, Mo. 1993). r. royal, The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century (New York 2000). Consejo Archidiocesano de los Hombres de la Accióón Católica de Valencia. Possumus, no. 100 (1960). L'Osservatore Romano, Eng. no. 11 (March 14, 2001) 1–4, 12.

[k. i. rabenstein]