Valentín Palencia
Feast: 15 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
During the Spanish Civil War Catholic people faced persecution from the Republican faction of the war, in part due to their support of the nationalists and the recently abolished monarchy. The Catholic Church venerates them as martyrs. More than 6,800 clerics and other Catholic people were killed in what has been dubbed the Red Terror. As of December 2025, 2,255 Spanish martyrs have been beatified; 11 of them being canonized. For some 2,000 additional martyrs, the beatification process is underway.
Summary of the Wikipedia article Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, which covers Valentín Palencia with others (CC BY-SA 4.0), until this page is written up in full.
The miracles
Limited information is available on this saint so far.
Why that counted as sanctity
Limited information is available on this saint so far.
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.
Connected on this site
- Donato Rodríguez Blessed“He was killed in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, with the priest Valentín Palencia Marquina and three other young laymen of the college Don Palencia had founded; their only fault, the Dicastery says, was wanting to defend the faith and share the fate of their father, teacher and friend.” — this site's research
- Emilio Huidobro Blessed“He was killed in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, with the priest Valentín Palencia Marquina and three other young laymen of the college Don Palencia had founded; their only fault, the Dicastery says, was wanting to defend the faith and share the fate of their father, teacher and friend.” — this site's research
- Germán García García Blessed“Germán García García was born at Villanueva de Argaño on 30 October 1912 and volunteered as a teacher at the college founded by Don Valentín Palencia.” — this site's research
- Zacarías Cuesta Blessed“He was killed in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, with the priest Valentín Palencia Marquina and three other young laymen of the college Don Palencia had founded; their only fault, the Dicastery says, was wanting to defend the faith and share the fate of their father, teacher and friend.” — this site's research
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - Valentin Palencia Marquina e compagni — "Valentin Palencia Marquina (1871-1937), sacerdote diocesano, e 4 compagni, martiri" of the Spanish Civil War; memorial 15 January.
- Wikidata Q23902140 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Not yet written up in full. The Catholic source above names this person; the name, dates and step come from Wikidata and are not yet checked against Church records.