History of the Knights of Columbus Mexican
Martyrs
The 1920s brought
a revolution to Mexico, along with the widespread persecution of Catholics.
Missionaries were
expelled from the country, Catholic seminaries and schools were closed, and the
Church was forbidden to own property. Priests and laymen were told to denounce
Jesus and their faith in public; if they refused, they faced not just
punishment but torture and death.
During this time
of oppression and cruelty, the Knights of Columbus did not retreat in Mexico
but grew dramatically, from 400 members in 1918 to 43 councils and 6,000
members just five years later. In the United States at the time, the Knights
handed out five million pamphlets that described the brutality of the Mexican
government toward Catholics. As a result, the Mexican government greatly feared
and eventually outlawed the Order.
Thousands of men,
many of whom were Knights, would not bow to these threats or renounce their
faith, and they often paid with their lives. They took a stand when that was
the most difficult thing they could do, and their courage and devotion have
echoed down through the decades.
Here are some of
the stories of the Knights of Columbus who joined the ranks of the Mexican
Martyrs and were among the 25 victims of religious persecution canonized in
2000 by Pope John Paul II.
Father Miguel de la Mora de la Mora
Father
Miguel de la Mora de la Mora of Colima belonged to Council 2140. Along with
several other priests, he publicly signed a letter opposing the anti-religious
laws imposed by the government. He was soon arrested and, with his brother
Regino looking on, Father de la Mora was executed without a trial by a single
shot from a military officer as he prayed his rosary. It was Aug. 7, 1927.
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Father Pedro de Jesus
Maldonado Lucero was a member of Council 2419. Forced to study for the
priesthood in El Paso, Texas, because of the political situation in Mexico, he
returned home after his ordination in 1918 despite the risk. Captured on Ash
Wednesday, 1937, while distributing ashes to the faithful, Father Maldonado
Lucero was so savagely beaten that one eye was forced from its socket. He died
the next day at a local hospital. His tombstone aptly described this martyr in
four words: "You are a priest."
Father Jose Maria Robles Hurtado
Father Jose Maria Robles
Hurtado was a member of Council 1979. Ordained in 1913, he founded the Sisters
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Guadalajara when he was only 25. On June 25,
1927, he was arrested while preparing to celebrate Mass. Early the next
morning, he was hanged from an oak tree, but not before he had forgiven his
murderers and offered a prayer for his parish. He went so far as to place the
rope around his own neck, so that none of his captors would hold the title of
murderer.
Father Rodrigo Aguilar
Alemán of Union de Tula in Jalisco was a member of Council 2330. After a
warrant was issued for is arrest, he took refuge a the Colegio de San Ignacio
in Ejutla, celebrating Mass and administering the sacraments. Rather than
escape when soldiers arrived, Father Aguilar Alemán remained at the seminary to
burn the list of seminary students, and thus protect them from being known.
When the soldiers demanded his identity, he told them only that he was a
priest. He was taken to the main square of Ejutla, where the seminary was
located. He publicly forgave his killers, and then a soldier gave him the
chance to save himself by giving the "right" answer to this question,
"Who lives?"
Father Aguilar
Alemán would be spared if he simply said, "Long live the supreme
government."
But he replied,
"Christ the King and Our Lady of Guadalupe." The noose that had been
secured to a mango tree was tightened, then relaxed twice. Each time it was
relaxed, he was asked the same question and each time he gave the same
response. The third time the noose was tightened, he died.
Father Luis Batiz Sainz
was born in 1870, and was a member of Council 2367. On Aug. 15, 1926, at
Chalchihuites, Zacatecas, he and three layman -- David Roldan, who was only 19
at the time, Salvador Lara and Manuel Morales -- were put before a firing squad
for refusing to submit to anti-religious laws. When Father Batiz Sainz asked
the soldiers to free one of the captives, Manuel Morales, who had sons and
daughters, Morales wouldn't hear of it.
"I am dying
for God," he declared, "and God will care for my children."
Smiling, Father Batiz Sainz gave his friend absolution and said: "See you
in heaven."
Father
Mateo Correa Magallanes
Father Mateo
Correa Magallanes, who was a member of Council 2140, was arrested and taken to
Durango. While in prison, he was ordered by the commanding officer on Feb. 5,
1927, to hear the confessions of his fellow prisoners. Then the commander
demanded to know what they had told him. Of course, Father Correa Magallanes
wouldn't violate the seal of confession, and so, the next day, he was taken to
a local cemetery and executed by the soldiers.