{"id":93031,"date":"2026-08-10T12:30:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T10:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/?p=93031"},"modified":"2026-08-10T14:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T12:09:16","slug":"the-bishop-and-the-romani-horse-trader-beatified-by-john-paul-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/2026\/08\/10\/the-bishop-and-the-romani-horse-trader-beatified-by-john-paul-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bishop and the Romani Horse Trader Beatified by John Paul II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Daniel del Castillo Gonz\u00e1lez<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first glance, a bishop and a Romani might seem to have nothing in common. These testimonies prove otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NATS JUBILEE SINTI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ceferino, known as Pel\u00e9, a blessed man, dances with honor. God holds him in His glory and is his greatest admirer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ceferino Gim\u00e9nez was a horse trader, who had his marriage blessed by the Church. He was also the only Romani man to join the Secular Franciscan Order and the Spanish Nocturnal Adoration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr. Florentino Asensio was named bishop of Barbastro, Spain, a few months prior to the Spanish Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of how the two met is recounted by Mart\u00edn Ibarra Benlloch in his book Gypsy and Bishop United in Martyrdom.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MART\u00cdN IBARRA BENLLOCH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author of 'Gypsy and Bishop United in Martyrdom'<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

You have to realize just how different they were. One was a bishop, a cultured, highly educated man. The other was Ceferino, a Romani basket maker and horse trader who couldn't read or write. Both became witnesses to Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

The two were imprisoned together. The bishop was tortured and executed first by a firing squad on August 9th<\/sup>, 1936.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

And when Ceferino refused to surrender the rosary he was wearing and defended a priest, he was executed at the city's cemetery.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

MART\u00cdN IBARRA BENLLOCH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author of 'Gypsy and Bishop United in Martyrdom'<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

It was a true Catholic holocaust. The goal was to wipe out the Catholic faith and all those most closely identified with it: priests, religious and lay people. Churches were attacked, their interiors were burned, and many were completely destroyed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

What united them was the way they faced martyrdom. During the time they were imprisoned, they devoted themselves to prayer and penance. They also embraced martyrdom.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

Their cause for canonization was launched by three Italians involved in the European pastoral work with Romani communities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

MART\u00cdN IBARRA BENLLOCH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author of 'Gypsy and Bishop United in Martyrdom'<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The parish has a painting and a statue of Ceferino, along with one of Blessed Emilia Fern\u00e1ndez, also Romani. He would say the parish frequently witnessed two miracles: many Romani came asking for work, and there they were given jobs.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

In 1997, Ceferino, also know as 'Pel\u00e9,' became the first beatified Romani. Pope John Paul II celebrated the ceremony where 4,000 Romani attended.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daniel del Castillo Gonz\u00e1lez At first glance, a bishop and a Romani might seem to have nothing in common. These testimonies prove otherwise. NATS JUBILEE SINTI Ceferino, known as Pel\u00e9, a blessed man, dances with honor. God holds him in His glory and is his greatest admirer. Ceferino Gim\u00e9nez was a horse trader, who had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":758,"featured_media":93026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/bs5FAzn92S4","video_descarga":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bzingarobeatoeng.mp4","international_url":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bzingarobeatoint.mp4","type":"bn","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93031"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/758"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93031"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93033,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93031\/revisions\/93033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}