On May 5, 2020, Pope Francis moved forward a number of causes of canonization, including a dad and his daughter from Spain.
The dad, Francisco Barrecheguren Montagut, worked in a textile company as a manager and was married on October 2, 1904 to Concha García Calvo. They had one child together, Maria Concepción, known by them as “Conchita.”
Francisco was a model father and husband, preparing his daughter to receive the sacraments and leading by the example of his devout prayer life.
Both his wife and daughter had precarious health, falling ill around the same time. This left Francisco with the duty of tending to them during their sicknesses. His wife’s struggles were primarily with mental imbalances, while his daughter’s health was due to intestinal inflammation.
Throughout her short life, Conchita desired to enter the religious life and become a Carmelite. She made a short pilgrimage to Lisieux in 1926, at the tomb of St. Therese, and contracted tuberculosis shortly thereafter. Despite efforts to treat the disease, she died on May 13, 1927, at the age of 22. Conchita possessed a simple and pure faith, one that was nurtured by the example of her father.
Francisco’s wife died about 10 years later on June 13, 1937. This left Francisco without a family, but during this trial, he felt a call to the religious life.
He entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1945 and was ordained a priest at the age of 68 years old. His priestly ministry only lasted for 8 years, as he died on October 7, 1957.
Nevertheless, he was a holy and pious priest and dedicated much of his time tending to the needs of the sick.
If their causes progress to beatification, it may be the first time a dad and his daughter were beatified together on their own, rather than as part of a mass beatification that may have included multiple family members in a larger group.
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