Jose Sanchez del Rio

José Luis Sánchez del Río was born on 28 March 1913 in Sahuayo, in the Mexican state of Michoacán, to Macario Sánchez Sánchez and María del Río Arteaga. He was the third of four children in a devout Catholic family. His childhood unfolded amid the anticlerical aftermath of the Mexican Revolution. The Constitution of 1917 had already placed severe limits on the Catholic Church; under President Plutarco Elías Calles those provisions were enforced with particular severity from 1926, with public worship restricted, priests expelled or killed, churches closed or confiscated, and religious education banned. The resulting uprising, known as the Cristero War (1926–1929), pitted armed Catholics who took the cry “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” against federal forces.

José’s older brothers enlisted with the Cristeros, and the boy, though only thirteen, pleaded to join them. When his mother hesitated, he is reported to have told her that it would be easy to reach Heaven by dying for Christ. He was eventually accepted into the command of General Prudencio Mendoza (called “El Catorce”) as a flag-bearer rather than a regular combatant. He accompanied the troops, carried the standard, and encouraged the men to remain steadfast in faith and prayer.

In February 1928, during an engagement with government troops, Mendoza’s horse was shot. José gave the general his own mount so that the commander could escape. The boy was captured and taken back to Sahuayo, where he was confined in the baptistery of the parish church, which federal authorities had turned into a prison. Officials pressed him to recant and to shout “Death to Christ the King.” He refused. Accounts of his captivity describe harsh mistreatment, including the cutting of the soles of his feet, and he was also forced to witness the hanging of another Cristero.

On the evening of 10 February 1928 he was led through the streets toward the municipal cemetery. Because of his wounded feet the walk was agonizing. At the cemetery he was stabbed with bayonets. Even then he continued to cry “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” and “¡Viva Santa María de Guadalupe!” Tradition holds that he traced a cross in the dirt with his own blood and kissed it before a soldier shot him in the head. He was fourteen years old. His body was first buried in the town cemetery.

Devotion to the young martyr spread among Mexican Catholics. His remains were later transferred to the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Sahuayo, where they are venerated. He was beatified on 20 November 2005 in Guadalajara by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, acting on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI. After recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession, Pope Francis canonized him in Saint Peter’s Square on 16 October 2016 together with six other blesseds. His liturgical feast is kept on 10 February. He is invoked as a patron of persecuted Christians, of children and adolescents, and of his native Sahuayo.