They promote devotion to Father Huidobro, chaplain of the Spanish Legion

This Friday, the Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo, will preside over the ceremony of transferring the remains of the chaplain of the Spanish Legion Fernando Huidobro, SJ to a new mausoleum in the cloister of the parish of San Francisco de Borja in the Spanish capital.

Until now, a military chaplain who died during the Spanish Civil War, was on one side inside the temple that, as detailed by the Archdiocese“it was exposed to humidity and wear.”

“This new location will facilitate visits by the faithful and devotees, since before they could only go there when the church was open. The cloister has longer hours as it gives way, in addition to the chapel, to the rooms where meetings and activities are held,” it is added on the archbishopric’s website.

The delegate for the Causes of Saints of the diocese of Madrid, Alberto Fernández, considers that the transfer “is important” because for his beatification “it is necessary to demonstrate a miracle performed by God through his intercession” and the new location It makes it easier for the faithful to come “to deposit their desires and requests in the grave, so that if God pleases, one day the miracle that will allow for beatification can be performed and, if God wills, also the miracle that will later allow for canonization.” .

In 2020, on the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the Spanish Legion under the command of General Millán Astray, the Military Archbishopric agreed to the requests to promote the canonization process that had been paralyzed in 1947. Thus, it was reopened in January 2021 and was closed in October 2022.

The military archbishop, Mons. Juan Antonio Aznárez, will also be present at the event, which will consist of a “funeral liturgy with all honors”; the provincial of Spain of the Company of Jesus, Enric Puiggròs and military authorities.

It is not the first time that his metal remains have been moved. After his death, he was buried in the Boadilla del Monte cemetery and from there to Aranjuez in 1943, Madrid being his permanent location since 1958.

In recent months, the mortal remains of Father Huidobro have been removed to undergo forensic analysis related to the process for their possible elevation to the altars.

Who was Fr. Fernando Huidobro, SJ

Born in Santander on March 10, 1903, Father Fernando Huidobro, SJ was baptized the day after his birth. He was the sixth of nine children and two of his sisters were religious Slaves of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

After studying in Melilla and Madrid, he entered the Jesuit novitiate in Granda in 1919. In October 1930, he began his Theology studies in burgos, but due to the expulsion of the Jesuits decreed by the Republican Government, he was sent to Belgium and Holland to complete his training. He also studied in Portugal and Germany.

When the Civil War broke out on July 18, 1936, he asked his superiors to go to the battle front to help his compatriots “especially where the neediest were and where it was most difficult, preferring in principle the area loyal to the established government (which proved impossible for a priest)”, as detailed in the Military Archbishopric website.

Thus, in September 1936 he was assigned to the IV Flag of the Spanish Legion, which has an image of the Christ of Lepanto on its banner, the same one that the priest wore around his neck.

On Monday, April 5, 1937, in the middle of the Spanish Civil War in which one of the greatest anti-Catholic persecutions in history occurred, he made his perpetual profession in the Society of Jesus. On Sunday the 11th, already joining the front, he died as a result of wounds caused by a shell while caring for a wounded legionnaire.

“That day they had received many mortar hits and the captain had ordered him to withdraw to safeguard his life, but he remained at the post confessing to a legionary,” details the Military Archbishopric.

The life of Father Huidobro among the soldiers of the Legion

According to the Jesuit Francisco Peiro in a article published in the newspaper ABC On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his death, Lieutenant Juan Parra Jeres, in a witness statement about the chaplain, explained the way in which he looked after the needs of the legionaries:

“The services that our chaplain provided us were incessant and so, when there were six or eight days of rest due to the need to repair the material, Father Huidobro would make some escape to the rear to dedicate himself to begging for alms and looking for belongings or buying them, such as soap, razor blades, towels, needles, writing paper, etc., etc., which later upon joining the Flag he distributed among the legionaries according to the needs he saw.”

Lieutenant Parra also recalled how, despite the many invitations to eat with the commanders, “he preferred to eat in the company of simple legionaries, he was received among them with joy and they liked to give him everything they had.”

His detachment was such that as soon as he was offered a blanket to overcome the cold, he would find someone who needed it more:

“One night I found him next to an advanced service post shivering from the cold between his prayers. I gave him a blanket to keep him warm. That blanket went out the next day to the rear, covering a wounded prisoner. I gave him another one and he went to wrap the feverish body of a sick person. New delivery and new donation to a third party. And Father Huidobro continued shivering and looking for excuses to explain his prodigality and firmly maintained that he did not feel the cold.

A “miracle” attributed to his prayers in the midst of a bombing

According to the testimony of the legionary officer, a few days after the Jesuit was incorporated into his Flag, he suffered an intense bombardment when he was in a hamlet that served as an aid station.

A Popular Front bomber plane tried to blow up the place. “Father Huidobro, upon seeing him approach, invited everyone to pray,” he says. The first four bombs went off target. The plane left to return after a while, with more projectiles that opened “craters around the aid station, but respecting it. And it was a miracle. Because in the two hours that the bombardment lasted, not a single projectile dared to touch the humble little house where the aid station had been installed and where those who could took refuge in the hands of God and in the shadow of the prayers of his holy chaplain.”

The religious only carried one “weapon”: the crucifix. Many times they insisted that he put a gun in his belt. “I’m never going to take it,” Father Huidobro replied. If they kill me, I want to die as a minister of God and a priest for exercising my sacred ministry,” says the legionnaire.