Biography
Pedro Nolasco Soler Méndez
About Pedro Nolasco Soler Méndez
Pedro Nolasco Soler Méndez was a Spanish Franciscan priest killed in Damascus in 1860. He was born in Lorca on April 28, 1827, and baptized in the parish of San Cristóbal two days later. He entered the missionary college at Priego in 1856, made his religious profession the following year and departed for the Holy Land in January 1859.
His path to religious life included years of ordinary employment. Franciscan archivist Ricardo Martínez Sánchez describes his early schooling with the friars of San Diego, interrupted by their expulsion in 1835. Pedro continued in public education and later served a canon of San Patricio. He then worked at the Carmelitana foundry in Villaricos, helping support his family. His religious studies continued under the guidance of Father Sandoval.
Emilia Flocchini’s biography places him at the convent of the Conversion of Saint Paul in Damascus, studying Arabic under Carmelo Bolta. His fellow students included Nicanor Ascanio and Nicolás Alberca. Their formation continued alongside worship in the convent church, which also served the local Latin Catholic community.
Violence reached the Christian quarter in July 1860. Martínez Sánchez records that Emir Abd-el-Kader offered refuge to Christian religious communities and that many accepted. The Franciscans remained with the people sheltering at their convent. When attackers entered, Pedro tried to protect children in the adjoining school. Two boys survived and later described his death. The archivist’s account presents their testimony as the source for the final scene.
According to Flocchini’s account, the attackers demanded money and then required Pedro to renounce Christianity. He refused and was killed. The two boys escaped by hiding. This narrative belongs to the testimony preserved in the story of the martyrs; it does not require treating later reproductions of his final words as a verbatim transcript.
Pope Francis canonized Pedro with the other martyrs of Damascus on October 20, 2024. The group comprised eight Franciscan friars and three Maronite laymen. The Diocese of Cartagena reported that its bishop attended with priests and about 200 people from Lorca. It also announced a local thanksgiving Mass at San Cristóbal, the parish where Pedro had been baptized.
His regular feast is July 10. In 2025, Cartagena’s bishop authorized an exceptional transfer of the celebration in Lorca to October 20, the anniversary of the canonization. The decree cited reduced summer attendance and the wish to allow more parishioners to participate. It applied specifically to that year.
Lorca also commemorated him in its streets. In October 2025, the municipal council approved changing the name of Calle Beato Fray Pedro Soler to San Pedro Soler, following a request from the parish priest and the Archicofradía del Cristo de la Sangre. The decision updated an existing dedication after his canonization.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.