Pectoral cross that belonged to Father Josep Maria Noguer i Tarafa, parish priest of Santa Pau, Catalonia, who was shot on 9 August 1936 during the Spanish Civil War.
On 4 October 1934, after the elections won by the right wing in November 1933 and following a government crisis, a general strike was proclaimed, which gave rise to a revolutionary movement throughout Spain that was soon to come to an end in most of the country.

In Asturias, however, the revolutionaries gained control of the mining basins and the capital, Oviedo. All religious demonstrations were forbidden, churches were burned, the cathedral of Oviedo was bombed, the bishop’s palace and the seminary were set on fire. It was the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, during which hundreds of Christians, men, women, priests, religious and lay people, lost their lives for the sole ‘guilt’ of professing their faith.

Among them were Father Josep Maria Noguer i Tarafa, parish priest of Santa Pau, Catalonia, who was shot on 9 August 1936, with the Claretian seminarians of Barbastro, who left written in their testament: “We spend the day infusing ourselves with courage for martyrdom, praying for our enemies and for our dear institute; when the moment arrives to nominate the victim there is in everyone holy serenity and eagerness to hear one’s name to advance and place oneself in the ranks of the elect; we await the moment with generous impatience. When he came, we saw some kissing the ropes with which they tied him up, others directing words of forgiveness to the armed mobs; when they boarded the truck towards the cemetery, we heard them shout: Long live Christ the King! And the crowd responded angrily: Die! Die!” but nothing intimidated them.”