In September 2024 I was on holiday in Spain and was wanting to visit the grave of Ceferino the only Romany Gypsy to be made a saint by the Catholic Church. I knew that Ceferino or El Pele (the strong one in Spanish) had been beatified by Pope John Paul the 2nd in Rome in 1997.
Ceferino was a strong Christian famous for his peacemaking often helping settle arguments between his Roma neighbours and disputes between local Roma and settled people. Though unable to read or write he worked for the Catholic Church teaching others about the bible and the sacraments of the church from memory. He is most famous for his death, being killed in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War by the Republicans for his defence of priests and his refusal to deny Christ.
I wanted to find out more and had tried asking at a monastery and the Barcelona tourist board for details about visiting his place of death. All I could find out was that he lived in the town of Barbastro in the province of Huesca in Northern Spain. So I took the chance to see if there was any record of his life and we drove through the hills to Ceferino’s home town. I arrived at the local Tourist Information just as it was closing and was glad to be given a small pamphlet about his life and directions to the Church of St Francis. I was told that the church was likely to be shut. I made my way through the rain and entered the church porch. Expecting the door to be locked I pushed hard and was pleased to feel it open, and entered darkness. I explored the length of the building in the half light finding nothing and just as I was about to leave downhearted, I came upon a side Chapel with the outline of a statue of El Pele, then I found a light switch and I felt like an explorer who had found treasure. In front of me was a wooden statue with a rosary around Ceferino’s neck, a large banner telling the story of his life and a couple of painted pictures and a newspaper telling the story of his beatification in Rome.
Then I met the local priest and we communicated with smiles and my very bad Spanish and he encouraged me to visit the Cemetery. Outside the Cemetery you can still see the bullet marks on the wall where Ceferino was shot by a firing squad. Just inside the gates is a simple grave with beautiful
painted tiles picturing Ceferino on a horse, clutching the rosary he refused to surrender and held onto as he was shot. I took a simple wooden Rosary out of my pocket and prayed with it in front of his grave. It seemed a fitting way to end my pilgrimage.
Ceferino teaches me that following Christ is about simple acts of service, it’s about reaching out to others and embracing difference, his life reminds us that following in the way of Jesus is costly. He’s a good figure to inspire Gypsy Roma Traveller Friendly Churches as his life was all about using his Christian faith to build bridges between his Roma community and the settled community.
