Leonardo Olivera Buera

Leonardo Olivera Buera was born on 6 March 1889 in Campo, near Huesca in Aragon, Spain, the son of José Olivera, an itinerant laborer, and Paula Buera. He grew up in a devout Catholic home. When he was four years old his mother died, and the family moved frequently. As a boy he served as an altar server in Castejón de Sos (Huesca).

He entered the seminaries of Barbastro and Zaragoza and was ordained a priest in 1916 for the Diocese of Zaragoza. Appointed parish priest of Movera, a working-class village near Zaragoza, he collaborated closely with the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle), serving as confessor to the brothers and their students at the college attached to his church. He was known for apostolic zeal, humility, and readiness to hear confessions and aid the needy late into the night; he also took part in local works such as the cemetery at Movera.

From 1928 he served as chaplain and spiritual director at the Colegio La Salle de la Bonanova in Barcelona, continuing his pastoral care of youth and religious. Family memory records that on a walk along the Bonanova promenade he told his young nephew Joaquín that his greatest desire in this life would be to give it for Jesus Christ as a martyr.

At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War the Bonanova college was occupied by militiamen on 19 July 1936. Leonardo was wounded by a gunshot, hospitalized for more than a month, interrogated at the Hotel Colón in Barcelona, and returned to hospital. After recovery he took refuge with his sister Aurelia in Valencia, where he also sheltered a La Salle brother. On or about 22–23 October 1936 he was recognized as a priest, arrested at his sister's house, and taken away by armed men. He declared himself "a priest of Jesus Christ," raising his eyes to heaven. On 23 October 1936 he was shot at El Saler near Valencia. Tradition recounts that he went without resistance, like a lamb to the slaughter, and without pronouncing a word; his body was riddled with bullets. Relatives or brothers buried him in a Valencia cemetery, but his remains could not later be recovered.

He died in hatred of the faith for his priesthood. Declared a martyr by decree of 20 December 1999, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 11 March 2001 together with many other Spanish Civil War martyrs. His feast is kept on 23 October.

May Blessed Leonardo Olivera Buera obtain for us the grace of generous self-offering and the courage to forgive, that we may imitate his peaceful fidelity to Christ today.