José Sánchez del Río
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Saint José Luis Sánchez del Río |
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|---|---|
| Layman; Martyr | |
| Born |
March 28, 1913 Sahuayo, Michoacán de Ocampo, Mexico |
| Died | February 10, 1928 (aged 14) Sahuayo, Michoacán de Ocampo, Mexico |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | November 20, 2005, Guadalajara, Mexico by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins |
| Canonized | October 16, 2016, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope Francis |
| Feast | February 10 |
| Attributes |
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| Patronage |
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Saint José Luis Sánchez del Río (March 28, 1913 – February 10, 1928) was a Mexican Cristero who was put to death by government officials because he refused to renounce his Catholic faith. His death was seen as a largely political venture on the part of government officials in their attempt to stamp out dissent and crush religious freedom in the area. He was dubbed as "Joselito".
He was declared to be martyr on June 22, 2004 by Pope John Paul II and was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI – through the Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints – on November 20, 2005 in Mexico. Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to him on January 21, 2016, allowing for his canonization to take place; a date was determined at a consistory on March 15, 2016 and he was proclaimed to be a saint on October 16, 2016.
The Cristero War began when the government began eliminating church privileges and seizing church properties throughout the country, in accordance with anti-clerical laws written into the Mexican Constitution. President Plutarco Elias Calles, who took office in 1924, focused on the Roman Catholic Church, which led to seizure of church property, the closing of religious schools and convents, and the exile or the execution of priests.
José Luis Sánchez del Río was born on March 28, 1913, in Sahuayo, Michoacán.
He attended school in his hometown and later in Guadalajara in Jalisco. When the Cristero War broke out in 1926, his brothers joined the rebel forces, but his mother would not allow him to take part. The rebel general, Prudencio Mendoza, also refused his enlistment. The boy insisted that he wanted the chance to give his life for Jesus Christ and so come to Heaven easily. The general finally relented and allowed José to become the flagbearer of the troop. The Cristeros nicknamed him Tarcisius, after the early Christian saint, martyred for protecting the Eucharist from desecration.
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