Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla

Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla, known as El Pelé, was a Romani man from Spain, a horse dealer in Barbastro in Aragon, a husband and adoptive father, and a Franciscan tertiary. In 1936 he gave his life for the faith. The Church commemorates him on August 2.

According to the apostolic letter of beatification, he was born on August 26, 1861, in the small town of Fraga in Aragon and was baptized the same day, although witnesses also named other places. His family moved from village to village through Aragon and Catalonia and lived in deep poverty; as a boy he wove baskets for sale. He never went to school and could neither read nor write, but at home he learned the prayers of the Church and a tender love for the Mother of God.

As a young man he settled for good in Barbastro and, according to Roma custom, married Teresa Jiménez; in 1912 they also married in church. They had no children of their own, so they took in Pepita, a young relative of Teresa, whom Ceferino raised as his own daughter.

He earned his living trading horses and mules. He was known for his honesty: he did not hide the defects of his animals and cheated no one. For a time he prospered, and from his earnings he helped the poor, especially the Roma. Once he was accused of theft because he had unknowingly bought stolen mules; he spent two months in prison before the court recognized his innocence. His generosity left him poor himself at the end of his life.

He enjoyed great authority among the Roma and their neighbors: he reconciled feuding families and calmed disputes between the Roma and the other inhabitants. Every day he attended Mass, received Communion and prayed the rosary. He belonged to the Eucharistic Thursdays, the Nocturnal Adoration and the Conferences of Saint Vincent de Paul, and in 1926 he joined the Third Order of Saint Francis. He gathered children, Roma and non-Roma alike, taught them to pray and told them stories from the Bible.

After the civil war broke out, the persecution of the Church began in Barbastro. In July 1936 Ceferino stood up for a young priest whom militiamen were dragging through the streets to prison. He was arrested, and a rosary was found in his pocket. He was promised his freedom if he stopped praying and handed over the rosary, but he refused. According to the apostolic letter, he was shot against the wall of the Barbastro cemetery on August 2, 1936; some witnesses pointed to a later day. He died with his rosary in his hand, crying out “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” (“Long live Christ the King!”). His body was thrown into a common grave and has never been found.

The cause for his beatification opened in 1993 in the diocese of Barbastro. John Paul II beatified him in Rome on May 4, 1997, together with Bishop Florentino Asensio Barroso of Barbastro. The Pope said then that his life shows that Christ is present in the various peoples and races and that all are called to holiness. Ceferino is the first Romani person to be raised to the altars.