At Otranto in Apulia, nearly eight hundred blessed martyrs, who, when the invading Ottoman soldiers ordered them to renounce the faith but Blessed Antonio Primaldo, an aged weaver, exhorted them to persevere in the faith of Christ, received the crown of martyrdom by beheading.
Lifespan: d. 1480
Beatified: 14 December 1771 by Pope Clement XIV
Canonized: 12 May 2013 by Pope Francis, Rome
Memoria liturgica: 14 August
“Jesus Christ is our Lord and true God, and we would rather die a thousand times than deny Him and become Turks.”
Martyrdom
After the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 and the siege of Belgrade in 1456, the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed II, attempted in vain in 1479 the conquest of the island of Rhodes. He then turned his attention to the furthest tip of the Italian coast, the nearest to the Albanian ports already in his possession.
On 28 July 1480, the Turks approached the shores of the city of Otranto — where Antonio Primaldo and his companions lived — with approximately 140 ships and some 15,000 men. The city at that time had at most six thousand inhabitants and had been abandoned by the Aragonese garrison, which was engaged in military operations in Tuscany.
As soon as the siege was laid, the Turks immediately demanded surrender. In the face of refusal, the city was bombarded, and on 12 August it fell into the hands of the Turks, who sacked it and killed Archbishop Stefano, the canons, several priests, and numerous faithful gathered in the Cathedral.
The following day, the commander Gedik Ahmed Pasha ordered that all surviving men — some eight hundred, aged fifteen and above — be brought to the Turkish encampment and forced to apostatize. Immediate and resolute was the reply given on behalf of all by Antonio Primaldo, a humble cobbler or cloth-shearer. He declared that “they held Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, and that they would rather die a thousand deaths than deny Him and become Turks.”
Ahmed Pasha then ordered immediate capital punishment. They were beheaded or cut down.
For a year the bodies lay unburied at the place of execution, where they were found by the troops sent to liberate Otranto. In May 1481 they were placed in the nearby church “at the fountain of Minerva” and transferred, the following September, to the Cathedral. In 1490, Alfonso of Aragon had a number of the bodies transported to Naples.
These witnesses of Christ were immediately recognized as Martyrs and became objects of veneration by the people, who regarded them as powerful intercessors before God.
From ancient times the Church of Otranto has devoutly celebrated their memory each year on 14 August.
Progress of the Cause
a) For the confirmation of the cult from time immemorial
In 1539 a first inquiry was opened for the beatification of the Martyrs of Otranto, resumed on several occasions in subsequent years; but only in 1755–56 could the ordinary process be held in Otranto, under Bishop Niccolò Caracciolo — whose acts, however, were not considered valid by the Sacred Congregation of Rites.
From 1770 to 1771 a second ordinary process was conducted by the Bishop of Lecce, Alfonso Sozy Carafa. This was promptly examined in Rome, and on 14 December 1771 the decree confirming the cult — paid from time immemorial to the Martyrs of Otranto — was obtained; the martyrs had been declared principal Patrons of the City and Archdiocese in 1721.
b) For the canonization
The cult paid to the Blessed proved especially intense in 1980, on the occasion of the fifth centenary of the martyrdom. The celebrations concluded solemnly with a ceremony presided over by the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II on 5 October 1980 in Otranto.
The canonization of these Blessed has always and continuously been desired, but only in recent years was it possible to gather in a systematic manner the historical documentation concerning the fact of the martyrdom. The historical commission was appointed by the Archbishop of Otranto in 1988.
The Diocesan Inquiry, conducted between 1991 and 1993, was recognized as valid by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints by Decree of 27 May 1994. On 28 April 1998 the Congress of Historical Consultors was held. On 16 June 2006 the special Congress of Theological Consultors took place, with a positive outcome. The Cardinal and Bishop Fathers at the Ordinary Session of 17 April 2007 recognized that the Blessed Antonio Primaldo and Companions were killed for their fidelity to Christ.
The Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI on 6 July 2007 directed the promulgation of the Decree on the martyrdom.
From 27 July 2010 to 16 April 2011, the Diocesan Inquiry into an alleged miracle obtained through the intercession of the Blessed Antonio Primaldo and Companions Martyrs was conducted in the Archdiocese of Otranto, concerning the extraordinary healing of Sister Francesca Levote (in the world, Cecilia) from “endometrioid cancer of the left ovary with systemic metastatic progression (stage IV) and severe compromise of general condition.”
The Medical Consulta of the Congregation, meeting on 28 June 2012, unanimously recognized that the healing is not explicable on the basis of current medical knowledge.
On 22 September 2012 the special Congress of Theological Consultors of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints was held, with a unanimously positive outcome.
On 11 December 2012 the Ordinary Session of Cardinals and Bishops took place.
His Holiness Benedict XVI, on 20 December 2012, authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree super miraculo.