We do not have many photos that capture the last moments of the martyrs of our Church. We know the stories of their deaths; We may even have access to eyewitness accounts, but, for the most part, that’s all we have to aid us in our memories.
This is not the case of Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, the Jesuit priest martyred during the Cristero War in Mexico in 1927. Anti-Catholic Mexican President Plutarco Elías Calles, who ordered Father Pro’s execution on false charges and without a trial, specifically ordered that there would be a photographer on the scene while the brave priest faced a firing squad. His intention was to break the spirit of the Catholic revolutionaries and force their fear to overcome their faith. I wanted them to see a weak and scared man, cowering in fear of weapons, perhaps even crying and begging for mercy.
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Unfortunately for President Elías Calles, he knew very little about the man whose death he had ordered. Born into a large and devout family, Father Pro had been a lively and boisterous child. He frequently played practical jokes on his many siblings and friends, and delighted in entertaining his classmates. When, as a young man, he went to seminary, his seminary classmates remembered that he was the “most playful and most devoted” of all the students. Despite his poor health, which forced him to be frequently hospitalized, and even under the surgeon’s knife, he spent hours praying in the chapel.
Forced to flee Mexico with the beginning of anti-Catholic persecution in 1914, Miguel went first to the United States with the rest of his classmates, and from there to Europe, finally being ordained a priest in 1925. After his ordination, he returned to Mexico , hoping that his long absence would help him avoid detection by the government while he ministered to the Church, which had been forced underground by the new regime’s draconian laws.
With tireless energy and his lifelong talent for the theater, Father Pro dedicated himself to serving suffering Catholics in his country. He often used disguises to travel between cities to administer the sacraments, provide material aid, and minister to his distant flock. In Mexico City, he dressed in the clothes of a wealthy and fashionable businessman, often raffling off donated items, the proceeds of which he sent to feed and clothe the poor. Once, he even disguised himself as a mechanic so he could preach to a congregation of taxi drivers and bus drivers right under the noses of the Mexican authorities.
As he toured the country, flouting unjust laws and risking his life, Father Pro’s humor never failed him. In a letter, he said he was almost worried that the hand of God, which so palpably protected his ministry, would prevent him from dying, which, joking, would be a huge disappointment, since he was so excited to get to heaven and play guitar. with his guardian angel.
For more than a year, Father Pro evaded capture. He was occasionally detained, but could never be held for long as no evidence could be found against him. But his tireless efforts on behalf of the Church had not escaped the attention of the ruthless new president, Elías Calles. Finally, in November 1927, a failed assassination attempt on Elías Calles provided the necessary cover for the president’s men to arrest Padre Pro. Despite the confession of the alleged assassin, who claimed that Padre Pro was in no way related Along with the plot, Elías Calles ordered the priest’s immediate execution without trial.
On November 23, 1927, as he walked toward the firing squad, followed by Elías Calles’s photographer, Father Pro blessed the soldiers as he passed by them. Far from acting like the frightened prisoner, Father Pro defiantly refused a blindfold so he could face his killers and publicly forgive them for their role in his death. Holding a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other, with his last breath, Father Pro extended his arms in imitation of Christ on the cross and shouted: “Long live Christ the King!” When the initial volley failed to kill him, a soldier approached the collapsed priest and fired one last shot at point-blank range, killing Father Pro instantly.
The next day, photos of Father Pro’s execution made the front page of the nation’s newspapers. Its effect was immediate and directly contrary to Elías Calles’ plan. Instead of being scared into submission by the brutal death of their beloved priest, Catholics across the country rallied around the images, drawing strength from their fallen pastor, whom they trusted was now interceding for them from heaven. Defying authorities, a crowd of 40,000 lined the funeral procession through the streets of Mexico City, carrying Father Pro to his final resting place. He was denied a Catholic funeral, but his father said prayers over his son’s body, while 20,000 more witnesses joined the crowd.
The short but charismatic life of Father Miguel Pro continued to resonate in Mexico’s Catholic underground and attracted international attention. His cause for sainthood was opened in 1952 and Pope Saint John Paul II declared him a martyr and beatified him in 1988. During the beatification, John Paul II said of Father Pro: “Neither suffering, nor serious illnesses, nor exhausting activity ministry, often carried out in difficult and dangerous circumstances, were able to extinguish the radiant and contagious joy that he brought to his life for Christ and that nothing could take away. In fact, the deepest root of his self-sacrificing dedication to the little ones was his passionate love for Jesus Christ and his ardent desire to be conformed to Him, until death.”
The cheerful boy, who teased his sisters and played pranks on his friends, had become a holy and fearless priest, whose final moments revealed not only the depth of his courage, but also his fervent love for God and his fellow men. .
Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, pray for us!
Editor’s note: This article is a translation from a post by Kelly Marcum on the National Catholic Register blog. The opinions expressed in this article correspond exclusively to its author.
Kelly Marcum
Kelly Marcum studied International Politics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and earned her master’s degree from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. She is the founder and president of the Gratia Plena Institute, an organization dedicated to teaching high school girls the Catholic vision of authentic womanhood. His writings have appeared in The American Conservative, The Federalist, The Washington Examiner, and Catholic Exchange. She lives with her husband and children in Virginia.