The Martyrs of Gorcum.

They were killed by Calvinists.
.
Have you ever been accused of being a Calvinist or a Jansenist lately? It is the fashionable, albeit shameful, accusation to make now days - especially as a criticism of Catholics with an old fashioned morality - you know, those papists who long for a proper Mass, advocate pro-life politics, or who reject same-sex marriage legislation and arbitrary hate crimes bills. How the tables are turned today. But I digress...
.
By 1572, the Netherlands had fallen culturally and politically into Protestant hands, and Catholics of the country became objects of persecution for Lutherans and Calvinists alike. As town after town fell to Protestant control, the Catholic clergy of the area were arrested and often tortured. The goal of this mistreatment was not death, but apostasy.
.
In June of 1572, the town of Gorcum (modern Gorinchem, 20 miles west of Rotterdam) fell into the hands of Calvinist pirates, and immediately they arrested nine Franciscan priests. Later, two Franciscan lay brothers, three secular priests, and an Augustinian canon were also arrested. Eventually four more priests were added to their number. These included two Norbertines, another secular priest, and John of Cologne, a Dominican friar working outside of Gorcum. After hearing of the arrests of the Franciscans, St. John disguised himself and traveled to Gorcum to console his brother priests with the sacraments. He was eventually caught and imprisoned along with them.
.
The pirates demanded that these nineteen priests and religious deny the Real Presence and the authority of the Pope. They refused, much to their captors’ distress. Despite a plea for leniency from William of Orange, the Dutch prince and leader of the Protestant Rebellion, the Calvinists of Gorcum transferred their prisoners to nearby Brielle, where they were martyred outside of town in a dilapidated shed. Their bodies were horrifically desecrated both before and after their deaths, out of mockery for their priesthood.
.
One of the secular priests killed was notorious for his unchastity. When accused of this by his captors, he offered his famous reply, “Fornicator I always was, but heretic I never was.” - Source
.
I like that: “Fornicator I always was, but heretic I never was.”
.
People can call me what they like too.
.
July 9 is the memorial of the Martyrs of Gorcum. They all chose death rather than renounce their faith in the Blessed Sacrament and Papal supremacy. Imagine that.