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Leaders of the Cristero War. By Unknown - http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/calles/cristeros.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org.
July 30, 2019
Agenzia FidesMEXICO CITY - The church has approved Blessed Anacleto González Flores, a martyr of the anti-Catholic Cristero War in the 1920s and known as Mexico's Ghandi, as Patron of the Mexican Laity.
The news was sent to Agenzia Fides, the missionary news agency of the global church, by Msgr. Alfonso Miranda Guardiola, auxiliary bishop of Monterrey and General Secretary of the Mexican Bishops' Conference.
The statement noted that the CIII Plenary Assembly of the Mexican Bishops' Conference had unanimously voted the proposal to declare Blessed Anacleto Patron of the Laity and to establish in the third weekend of November, on the feast of Christ the King of the Universe, the Day of the Laity.
Blessed Anacleto González Flores
"In the joy of prayer, we entrust ourselves to the new Patron of the Laity," Msgr. Miranda Guardiola said. "The example of his devoted love for God reminds us that the path of holiness is a life-giving martyrdom that is possible only thanks to the strength of God."
Flores was killed on April 1, 1927, along with three young people of the Catholic Action of Mexican Youth, and was beatified Nov. 20, 2005, in Guadalajara, along with 12 other martyrs of the "Cristero War" during the Mexican revolution, from 1920 to 1930.
"Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, who presided over the beatification rite, said in press statements that "the message of the martyrs has great relevance for us, who live in the third millennium, because they teach us their willpower, the courage to live and defend the Christian faith we received in baptism."
Flores was born on July 13, 1888, in a poor family of Tepatitlán, Jalisco. After a period spent in the seminary, he dedicated himself to various jobs before graduating in law. Pedagogue, speaker, catechist and social leader, member of the secular Franciscan Order, he engaged in a strenuous battle in defense of the Catholic faith and the religiosity of the Mexican people, for which Pope Pius XI gave him the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.
Writer of books and articles, thoughtful father of two children, for the Mexicans he was "the master Cleto," founder of the Catholic Association of Mexican youth of Guadalajara and of the Popular Union. But he is also known as the "Mexican Gandhi," because during the civil war he advocated pacifism and non-violent struggle. At dawn on April 1, 1927, he was arrested and transferred to the Colorado barracks, where he was subjected to cruel torture. Before he died, he forgave his tormentors.