Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson delivers remarks at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Dallas at the start of the U.S. pilgrimage.
The relics of six Knights of Columbus canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000 have begun a tour of the United States.
The six priests – Pedro de Jesus Maldonado Lucero, Miguel de la Mora de la Mora, Jose Maria Robles Hurtado, Luis Batiz Sainz, Rodrigo Aguilar Alemán, and Mateo Correa Magallanes – were martyred for their faith by the Mexican government during the religious persecution in Mexico in the1920s.
“This pilgrimage seeks to promote knowledge of and devotion to the Knights of Columbus priest martyrs of Mexico and all those who sacrificed their lives for their faith during the Mexican persecution,” explained Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson, who will be attending the opening ceremonies in Dallas.
The U.S. portion of the pilgrimage began March 18 with a procession to the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Dallas, where a special Mass was celebrated.
The pilgrimage of the relics began in Mexico City in September 2005, to mark the centennial of the Knights of Columbus in Mexico. From there, the reliquary traveled to cities throughout Mexico. After traveling to several major U.S. cities, the pilgrimage will conclude in Orlando at the Knights of Columbus' 124th Supreme Convention in August 2006.
Relics have long been a part of Catholic devotional practice. Since the days of the Apostles, Christians have preserved and honored the physical remains of men and women recognized as saints Previous relic pilgrimages have drawn large numbers of the faithful. In 2003, the Knights co-sponsored the journey of a relic of the Tilma of Tepeyac, the cloth that bears the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which drew more than 150,000 people.
Pilgrimage Cities and Dates
 |
| April 22-23 |
Washington, D.C. |
Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle
1725 Rhode Island Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20036 |
| April 28-29 |
Orange, Calif. |
St. Anne Church
1344 S Main St.
Santa Ana, CA 92707 |
| April 30 |
Los Angeles |
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
555 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, Calif. |
| May 5-7 |
Denver |
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
1530 Logan St.
Denver, CO 80203 |
| May 13-14 |
Washington, D.C. |
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
400 Michigan Ave. NE
Washington, DC 20017 |
| May 20 |
Santa Fe, N.M. |
Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
131 Cathedral Place
Santa Fe, NM 87501 |
| May 21 |
Albuquerque |
Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish
1860 Griegos Rd, NW
Albuquerque, N.M. |
| June 3-4 |
Philadelphia |
St. Thomas Aquinas
1719 Morris St.
Philadelphia PA 19145 |
| June 6-11 |
New Haven |
Knights of Columbus Museum
1 State St.
New Haven, CT 06511
Telephone: 203-865-0400 |
| June 17-18 |
San Antonio |
San Fernando Cathedral
115 Main Plaza
San Antonio, TX 78205 |
July 13
8:30 a.m.-9 p.m. |
Prescott, Ariz. |
Sacred Heart Church |
July 14-15
7 a.m.-6 a.m. |
Phoenix |
St. Catherine's Church |
July 15
12-6 p.m. |
Avondale, Ariz. |
St. Thomas Aquinas Church |
July 15-16
7 p.m.-10 a.m.
Televised Mass at 9 a.m. |
Phoenix |
SS. Simon and Jude Cathedral |
July 16
1 p.m.-3 a.m. |
Mesa, Ariz. |
Christ the King Church |
July 17
8 a.m.-8 p.m. |
Sierra Vista, Ariz. |
St. Andrew the Apostle Church |
July 18
8:30-11 a.m. |
Tucson, Ariz. |
Our Lady Queen of All Saints Church |
July 18
12-6 p.m. |
Tucson, Ariz. |
St. Augustine Cathedral |
July 18-19 7 p.m. Procession from Council 1200 to St. Ambrose Church
at St. Ambrose until 3 a.m. |
Tucson, Ariz. |
St. Ambrose Church |
|
July 20
12-7 p.m. |
South Bend, IN |
St. Adalbert's Church
2505 W. Grace St.
South Bend, IN 46619
574) 288-5708 |
| July 21 |
Chicago |
Evening Mass at
Immaculate Conception Church
2944 E 88th St. Followed by procession to
Our Lady of Guadalupe
3200 E 91st St. |
July 22
5 p.m. |
Melrose Park, Ill. |
St. Charles Borromeo Church
1637 N 37th St.
Melrose Park |
July 23
Time to be announced |
Chicago |
Holy Name Cathedral
735 North State St.
Chicago, Ill. |
July 23
Time to be announced |
Joliet, Ill. |
St. John the Baptist Church
404 N Hickory St.
Joliet, Ill. |
July 24
Time to be announced |
Joliet, Ill. |
Mount Carmel Church
407 Irving St.
Joliet, Ill. |
|
July 29
6 p.m. |
Brooklyn, NY |
St. Joseph Patron of the Universe Church
185 Suydam St.
Brooklyn, NY 11221
(718) 386-0175 |
July 30
10:15 a.m. |
New York City |
St. Patrick's Cathedral
460 Madison Ave.
New York N.Y. |
| Aug. 1-3 |
Orlando, Fla. |
Supreme Convention |
|
|
History of the Knights of Columbus Mexican Martyrs
Two More Knights Beatified
Portrait of the Mexican Martyrs at the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven.
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.
Father Pedro de Jesus Maldonado Lucero
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
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?”
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
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.
Two More Knights Beatified
 |
 |
| Padre José T. Rangel Montaño |
Padre Andrés Solá Molist |
In 2005, two other Knights, also Mexican Martyrs, were beatified.
Father Jose Trinidad Rangel Montaño, a diocesan priest from Leon and member of Council 2484, and Claretian Father Andres Sola Molist, a Spaniard, and member of Council 1963. Both were executed for their faith in Rancho de San Joaquin, Mexico, in April 1927.
These men, and many thousands more, paid the ultimate sacrifice for their Catholic faith in Mexico during the 1920s and 1930s. But throughout that period, the Knights of Columbus in Mexico kept the faith and hundreds gave their lives to protect their beliefs, some as martyrs and others in the armed Cristero movement.
Always an advocate of peaceful struggle against the government, Pius XI singled out the Knights of Columbus for praise in his 1926 encyclical Iniquis Afflictisque, writing: “First of all we mention the Knights of Columbus, an organization which is found in all states of the [Mexican] Republic and fortunately is made up of active and industrious members who, because of their practical lives and open profession of the Faith, as well as by their zeal in assisting the Church, have brought great honor upon themselves.”
Mexican Knights, and the entire Church in Mexico, were consistently supported by the Knights in the United States who, in addition to distributing literature that informed the American people of the plight of the Church in Mexico, also lobbied President Calvin Coolidge to bring pressure to end the persecution.
In 1926, Coolidge met with a delegation of Knights including Supreme Knight James Flaherty, future Supreme Knight Luke Hart and Supreme Director William Prout. Coolidge affirmed his administration’s commitment to bringing about a resolution to the problems in Mexico.
Though the Knights had been outlawed in Mexico – even the Order’s Columbia magazine was temporarily banned – the Knights of Columbus survived. In 2005, at the centennial convention in Mexico City, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson declared that Mexican Knights are “second to none” in their commitment to “our founding ideals and their devotion to the Catholic faith.”
For more on the Mexican Martyrs see the following articles from The Online Edition of Columbia magazine:
St. José María Robles Hurtado