Rafael Lluch Garín
Layman, martyr of the persecution in Spain
Who they were
A young layman born in Valencia on 18 January 1917, he ran the shop of his sister's husband, a pharmacist who had been imprisoned; he was arrested on 12 October for refusing to take down a picture of the Virgin before which he would not let anarchists speak irreverently, and was killed three days later on the municipal road of Sella, in his nineteenth year. Pope Francis beatified him with Vicente Queralt Lloret and his twenty companions on 11 November 2017.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
His last words, recorded in the decree, were 'I am a Catholic, I am a Catholic! Long live Christ the King!'
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Acta Apostolicae Sedis 110 (2018), p. 3 - decree on martyrdom
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - beatifications of 11 November 2017
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.