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<\/a>Today the Church commemorates the lives and deaths of 22 parish priests, along with three lay Catholics, who were killed between 1915 and 1937 in Mexico because they professed the Catholic faith. These martyrs were all active members of the Cristeros Movement, which rose up against the Mexican government\u2019s persecution of Catholics. The Church has confirmed these men as saints: Pope John Paul II canonized them in 2000.<\/p>\nIt is humbling to reflect on these men and to wonder whether we would be willing to give our lives for our faith.<\/p>\n
He wrote and preached against armed rebellion. But he was falsely accused of promoting the Cristeros guerillas. While heading to a farm to celebrate Mass, St. Christopher Magellenes was arrested on May 21, 1927. Three days later, without a trial, he was shot to death. Before he died, he gave his executioners his remaining possessions and offered them absolution. He was 48.<\/p>\n
The last words heard from him were shouts from his cell. \u00a0\u201c<\/i>I am innocent and I die innocent. I forgive with all my heart those responsible for my death, and I ask God that the shedding of my blood serve the peace of our divided Mexico.\u201d<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Like many in the United States, I learned nothing of the history of Mexico during my years in public schools. Only a few years ago, because a friend recommended I read Graham Greene\u2019s 1940 masterpiece The Power and the Glory,<\/a><\/i>\u00a0did I begin to comprehend the magnitude of the supression of the Catholic faith in Mexico during the 1920s and 1930s. \u00a0This powerful novel, which is on the YIM Catholic bookshelf (preview only), tells the story of a priest in a region where Catholicism is outlawed. Throughout the novel, this brave yet flawed \u201cwhiskey priest\u201d is on the run, trying to perform the sacraments and minister to believers. He is haunted by the knowledge that if authorities catch him, they will kill him.<\/p>\n The novel reflects historic realities. The seminary where St. Christopher Magallanes studied, for example, was closed by the Mexican government in 1914 and turned into a regional art museum.<\/p>\n<\/a>How did this remarkable life begin? St. Christopher Magallanes was born \u00a0in 1869 in the Archdiocese of Guadalajara. His parents,\u00a0<\/span>Rafael Magallanes and Clara Jara, were poor farmers and devout Catholics.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>He worked as a shepherd and entered the Conciliar Seminary of San Jose, pictured here, at the age of \u00a019. He was ordained at age 30 and took a special interest in evangelizing to the local \u00a0indigenous Huichos people. <\/p>\n