May 21: Saint Christopher Magallanes and 24 companions martyred
Pastor to the point of sacrificing his life
The Church in Mexico had to overcome a terrible test, that of persecution and marginalization. With the law of 1917, known as the Political Constitution of the United States of Mexico, inspired by anti-religious and anti-clerical hatred, the harassment of Christians was institutionally increased. Pope Pius XI dedicated the Encyclical Iniquis Afflictisque, beseeching against the prevalent persecution of the Church by the government in Mexico, attributed "arrogance" and " madness " for the intent "to undermine and crumble the house of the Lord".
In the deeply Catholic nation, the clergy no longer had political or civil rights. Priests were relegated to exercising their ministry with the complete hostility of the Mexican government. Churches and parishes were subjected to all sorts of unwarranted violence and oppression.
Among the many martyrs of that period was Father Cristoforo Magallanes Jara. Born in 1869 into a devout peasant family in Totiche, near Guadalajara, he was ordained a priest in 1888 and appointed the pastor of his birth parish. He immediately distinguished himself for his strong evangelization activity among the Huicholes indigenous people for whom he opened a mission in Azqueltán. There he built schools, a hospice for orphans and a retirement home for the elderly. He combined evangelization with the effort to improve the living conditions of many poor peasants. He was an apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Rosary and was zealous in promoting vocations to the priesthood. In fact, when the authorities forcibly closed the Seminary of Guadalajara, he opened one in his parish. He was executed on May 25, 1927. In front of the firing squad, he sustained his companions in martyrdom, saying: “I die innocent and ask God that my blood serve for the unity of my Mexican brothers”. His figure is linked to the memory of twenty-four other martyrs, priests and lay people, killed between 1915 and 1937.
Their names are: the priests Romano Adame, Rodrigo Aguilar, Giulio Álvarez, Luigi Batis Sáinz, Agostino Caloca, Matteo Correa, Attilano Cruz, Michele de la Mora, Pietro Esqueda Ramírez, Margarito Flores, Giuseppe Isabel Flores, Davide Galván, Pietro Maldonado, Jesus Méndez, Giustino Orona, Saba Reyes, Giuseppe Maria Robles, Turibio Romo, Gennaro Sánchez Delgaldillo, Tranquillino Ubiarco and Davide Uribe; and the laymen Emanuele Morales, Salvatore Lara Puente and Davide Roldán Lara.
They were canonized by Pope John Paul II on May 21, 2000.