Joan Roig i Diggle
Joan Roig i Diggle (12 May 1917 – 11 September 1936) was a Spanish Roman Catholic and a member of the Federation of Young Christians of Catalonia. Roig did his education in Barcelona before he moved to complete it under the La Salle Brothers and Piarists in El Masnou. He hoped to pursue law during his schooling but had to do work in warehouses in order to support his father who lost his job due to a financial situation in his workplace. He delivered communion to the old and sick and was known for offering them comfort during dark times; this increased during the Spanish Civil War when it became uncertain as to the fate for priests and religious. Roig spoke out against communism which made him an opponent to the regime; he was arrested and killed soon after for his religious convictions.
The beatification process for him launched in Barcelona in late 1998 that saw him named as a Servant of God. Pope Francis confirmed his beatification after determining that Roig had been killed in hatred for his faith; Roig was beatified in Barcelona in the Sagrada Família on 7 November 2020.
Patron saint of Persecuted Christians; Catalonia
In the Martyrology
- September 12 Blessed Joan Roig i Diggle, layperson and martyr