Eustaquio Ilundáin y Esteban (20 September 1862 – 10 August 1937) was a

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who served as

Archbishop of Seville The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Seville () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Seville, Spain. The Diocese of Seville was founded in the 3rd century. It was raised to the level of an archdiocese in the 4th century. The curren ...

Early life and priesthood

Eustaquio Ilundáin y Esteban was born in

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He was educated at the

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of Pamplona, and the Seminary of

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ) is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. It was founded as Villa Real in 1255 as a ro ...

. He was ordained in 1886 in Pamplona. He served as a faculty member of the Seminary of Pamplona from 1886 until 1891. From 1901 until 1904 he was the Rector of the Seminary of

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...

Episcopate

He was appointed as

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Ourense Ourense (; ) is a city and the capital of the province of province of Ourense, Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path o ...

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

on 14 November 1904. He served as a Senator of the Spanish Kingdom for the province of

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

. He was promoted to the

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ...

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

on 16 December 1920. While bishop of Ourense he ordered the dismantling of a baldaquino that had been built over the altar of the monastery church of Santa María la Real de Oseira. He described it as "un armatoste". This ornate baroque wooden canopy, although possibly in a poor state of repair, was much loved by the villagers of Oseira. They were upset and protested but Bishop Ilundáin refused to listen to them or retract his order. He considered that the baldaquino was an ugly monstrosity that spoiled the beauty of the magnificent church and would not be contradicted. The protests continued. Local carpenters refused to comply with the bishop's orders. Determined to be obeyed, in April 1909, a group of carpenters were sent from Ourense accompanied by an armed contingent of some sixteen or more Civil Guards, together with an officer, Lieutenant Salinas. The end result was the horrific massacre of at least seven villagers from among the crowd who had gathered to voice their objections. These included a fourteen-year-old girl, a pregnant woman and two old men of seventy. An unknown number were injured with bullet wounds, many frightened to identify themselves for fear of possible reprisals. Following the event, Bishop Ilundáin conveniently disappeared for several weeks, ostensibly on an episcopal visit to some remote corner of the province, and could not be contacted. It is known that he had discussed the matter with the Civil Governor prior to the incident. Whether he requested the presence of the Civil Guards or whether the Civil Governor gave the order independently is not known. The fact is that he was complicit and that as a direct result of his heavy-handed and arrogant intransigence, innocent lives were brutally and unnecessarily taken.

Cardinalate

He was created and proclaimed Cardinal-Priest of '' San Lorenzo in Panisperna'' by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

in the consistory of 30 March 1925. He died while still in office in 1937.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilundain y Esteban, Eustaquio 1862 births 1937 deaths People from Pamplona 20th-century Spanish cardinals 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Spain Roman Catholic archbishops of Seville Bishops of Ourense