Manuel Ruiz Lopez
The Martyrs of Damascus were eleven Catholic saints martyred while praying inside a Franciscan-run parish in Damascus by Druze during the 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus. They consist of The Massabki Brothers (Arabic: الأخوة المسابكيين) (Abdel Moati Massabki, Francis Massabki, and Raphael Massabki) and Manuel Ruiz Lopez and Companions (Manuel Ruiz López, Carmelo Bolta Bañuls, Nicanor Ascanio Soria, Nicolás María Alberca Torres, Pedro Nolasco Soler Méndez, Engelbert Kolland, Francisco Pinazo Peñalver, and Juan Jacob Fernández). The Massabki Brothers were three Maronite Catholics from Damascus, in present-day Syria and sons of Nehme Massabki. Emmanuel Ruiz and the seven other martyrs were Franciscans, seven from Spain and one from Austria.
Their martyrdom took place in the night between 9-10 July 1860 and they were beatified in 1926. All eleven were canonized on 20 October 2024.
In the Martyrology
- July 10 Blesseds Manuel Ruiz López, Franciscan priest, and 10 companions, martyrs at Damascus