18 Jul, 2009 @ 00:00
1 min read

Red bishops honoured

BASQUE bishops are fighting to ensure that the memories of 14 ‘red’ priests executed during the Civil War are not forgotten.

It comes after the Spanish Church failed to officially consecrate them among dozens of other Catholic martyrs in 2007.

Now this injustice is to be partly righted in an official funeral held in their memory.

“We want to ask for forgiveness and in no way are we now pointing the finger,” insisted one of the bishops.

“We must remember that in the diocese of Vitoria, hundreds of people from both sides were executed in 1936 due to hate and revenge – among them were more than 70 priests.”

Meanwhile 300 families have so far given DNA samples to help identify the victims of what is thought to be Spain´s biggest mass grave, in Malaga.

Some 2,700 bodies have so far been dug up at San Rafael cemetery.

Mostly Republicans, they were executed between February 1937 and January 1955.

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

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