A Spanish Franciscan friar killed with his brethren in the 1860 Damascus massacre, canonized in 2024 among the Martyrs of Damascus.

Saint Manuel Ruiz López was a Spanish Franciscan priest of the Order of Observant Friars Minor, serving in the Holy Land mission when he was killed at Damascus, Syria, on July 9, 1860, at about fifty-six years of age. His death came during a wave of anti-Christian violence that swept the city that summer, in which he and several fellow friars, along with local Christian laymen, were killed for refusing to renounce their faith. Pope Francis canonized him in 2024, more than a century after his 1926 beatification.

Quick Facts

• Country: Spain (mission in Syria)
• Died: July 9, 1860, Damascus, Syria (age about 56)
• Role: Priest, Order of Observant Friars Minor (Franciscan)
• Venerated as: Martyr, one of the Martyrs of Damascus
• Canonized: 2024 (beatified 1926)

Who Was Saint Manuel Ruiz López?

Manuel Ruiz López was a Spanish-born Franciscan friar who had entered the Order of Observant Friars Minor and was serving among the Catholic community of Damascus at the time of his death. As a priest rather than a layman, he held responsibility for the sacramental and pastoral life of the friary and its associated Christians. He was killed on July 9, 1860, during a mob attack on the city’s Christian quarter, alongside other friars of his community.

Historical Setting

The summer of 1860 saw sectarian violence erupt in Ottoman Syria between the Druze and Christian populations of Mount Lebanon, which spread to Damascus and resulted in the massacre of thousands of Christians in the city over several days in July. Franciscan friars who had long staffed the Holy Land’s Catholic missions, along with local Maronite and Melkite laymen, were singled out and killed when they refused offers to save their lives by converting to Islam. Manuel Ruiz López died in this specific, well-documented nineteenth-century atrocity.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Manuel Ruiz López

He is remembered as a priest who remained with his community and his flock rather than fleeing the violence engulfing Damascus, and who died rather than abandon his faith when given the chance to save himself. His martyrdom, shared with his Franciscan brothers and Christian laymen of the city, is among the best-documented mass martyrdoms of the modern Middle East.

Canonization and Feast Day

The cause moved unusually slowly by modern standards: Pope Pius XI beatified Manuel Ruiz López and his companions in 1926, but it was not until 2024 that Pope Francis canonized them, closing a gap of nearly a century between beatification and canonization for the Martyrs of Damascus.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

His witness speaks directly to Christians living today amid renewed sectarian violence in the Middle East: a priest who could have saved his life by renouncing Christ chose instead to remain faithful to his flock and his vocation. He stands as an intercessor for Christian communities in the region who continue to face similar pressures in the present day.

A Prayer to Saint Manuel Ruiz López

Saint Manuel Ruiz López, Franciscan priest who gave your life for Christ in Damascus, watch over the Christians of the Middle East who still live under threat for their faith, and grant us the same steadfast courage in the face of persecution. Amen.

Sources

• Roman Martyrology, entry for the Martyrs of Damascus (1860)
• Vatican.va, canonization records for Pope Francis’s 2024 canonizations
• Franciscan Media, biography of the Franciscan Martyrs of Damascus