Walking on Camino I passed a monument in honor of the 300 people who were violently killed as they tried to challenge the oppressive regime of Franco. You literally walk next to and over the burial site of thee martyrs for justice. Deeply moving experience to realize how one human being can cause so much violence and oppression.

Fascism is a word we use quite freely these days and I’m not certain the use of the word to describe current political realities is helping. I admit my understanding is limited, but fascism in Spain seems to center on a military dictatorship in which all power centered on one, primary military figure who wields absolute power. The nazi’s and fascist’s were united in an ideology in which one person demands total allegiance. The military is used to stop or prevent through oppression and control any potential coup. The Spanish civil war and growth of fascism has rooted in the 19th century, culminating with General Franco.

When I stood there at the monument, a number of people came by and paid homage to these individuals killed so mercilessly. The politics of any age can cause so much violence and oppression, when power and authority become an idol, localized in one person or party, that refuses dissent or disagreement in any form whatsoever.

On this Feast of All Saints, we remember the countless canonized saints who gave their lives due to the violence of fascism, dictatorships, monarchies, emperors and empires. Think of all the uncanonized saints who are martyrs.

As we look at Jesus, crucified so cruelly and publicly, we gaze at the ULTIMATE MARTYR, whose death planted the seed of governance rooted in the absolute dignity of each and every human being, the ability to form communities of culture and support, being free to express your identity and use your gifts, the right to work and create a life with family and significant others, caring for God’s beautiful Creation and the right to freely worship God and practice your choice of religion. Belief in God or practice of religion can never, ever be forced.

Jesús was killed trying to remove that which divides us into tribes of division. He preached a Kingdom rooted in his love and gospel that unites us into a people rich in texture, color, language and religious culture. The Saints witness with their very lives that this vision of Christ’s can be a lived reality.