Bl. Andrés Solá Molist

Fr Andrés Solá y Molist, C.M.F., was born on 7 October 1895 in Can Vilarrasa, Spain. In September 1922 he was ordained, and in 1923 he was sent to Mexico as a Claretian missionary priest. The anti-Catholic and anticlerical laws that were passed at the time forced Fr Solá y Molist into hiding; he went to live in the home of Josefina and Jovita Alba in León so that he would not be obliged to leave the Country. He continued to administer Holy Communion to the sick and to hear confessions and celebrate many baptisms and marriages, all at the risk of his very life. By 1927 the persecution had worsened and his local superior, Fr Fernando Santesteban, directed him to leave León and to go to Mexico City. He remain ed there for some days, and then with the permission of the Provincial Superior he returned to León to continue his ministry. On 23 April, he received a letter from the superior of the community informing him that there was a warrant for his arrest and that he should suspend his activity, go into hiding or change residence. Fr Solá gave no importance to the letter, believing that nothing would happen. Instead, the next day he was arrested. When soldiers entered the home of the Alba sisters to take him away, he confirmed that he was a priest. He was led away to his martyrdom and shot on 25 April 1927.