Anacleto González Flores: Difference between revisions
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'''Anacleto González Flores''' (July 13, 1888 – April 1, 1927) was a Mexican [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[laity|layman]] and lawyer, executed during the persecution of the Catholic Church under the [[President of Mexico|presidency]] of [[Plutarco Elías Calles]]. He was [[beatification|beatified]] by [[Benedict XVI]] as a [[martyr]] on November 20, 2005.<ref>{{cite book |last1=López-Menéndez |first1=Marisol |title=Miguel Pro: Martyrdom, Politics, and Society in Twentieth-Century Mexico |date=2016 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-4985-0426-3 |page=159 |url=https://books.google. |
'''Anacleto González Flores''' (July 13, 1888 – April 1, 1927) was a Mexican [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[laity|layman]] and lawyer, executed during the persecution of the Catholic Church under the [[President of Mexico|presidency]] of [[Plutarco Elías Calles]]. He was [[beatification|beatified]] by [[Benedict XVI]] as a [[martyr]] on November 20, 2005.<ref>{{cite book |last1=López-Menéndez |first1=Marisol |title=Miguel Pro: Martyrdom, Politics, and Society in Twentieth-Century Mexico |date=2016 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-4985-0426-3 |page=159 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=hn4SDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA159&lpg=PA159&dq=Anacleto+González+Flores+beatified#v=onepage&q=Anacleto%20González%20Flores%20beatified&f=false |language=en}}</ref> |
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==Historical-background== |
==Historical-background== |
Revision as of 20:08, 2 February 2020
Blessed Anacleto González Flores | |
---|---|
Layman; Martyr | |
Born | Tepatitlán, Jalisco, Mexico | July 13, 1888
Died | April 1, 1927 Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico | (aged 38)
Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
Beatified | November 20, 2005, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico by Pope Benedict XVI, recognition celebrated by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins |
Feast | November 20[1] |
Patronage |
|
Anacleto González Flores (July 13, 1888 – April 1, 1927) was a Mexican Catholic layman and lawyer, executed during the persecution of the Catholic Church under the presidency of Plutarco Elías Calles. He was beatified by Benedict XVI as a martyr on November 20, 2005.[3]
Historical-background
At the time of the killing of González Flores, Mexico was under rule of the fiercely anti-clerical and anti-Catholic President Plutarco Elías Calles who had begun what writer Graham Greene called the "fiercest persecution of religion anywhere since the reign of Elizabeth."[4]
Childhood
The second of twelve children born to the poor family of Valentín González Sánchez and María Flores Navarro, Anacleto González Flores was baptized the day after his birth. A priest friend of the family recognized his intelligence and recommended him for the seminary where he excelled, earning the nickname "Maestro". After deciding he did not have a calling to holy orders, González began the study of law at Escuela Libre de Derecho in Guadalajara, becoming an attorney in 1922.[5]He married María Concepción Guerrero and they had two children.
Career and martyrdom
González attended Mass daily and engaged in numerous works of charity, including visiting prisoners and teaching catechism.[6]
He became an activist and leader of the Catholic Association of Mexican Youth (ACJM) and founded the magazine La Palabra which attacked the anticlerical and anti-Catholic articles of the Constitution of 1917.[6] He was the founder and president of the Popular Union (UP), an organization to organize Catholics to resist the persecution of the Church.[7]
Originally, he supported passive resistance against the government, having studied the methods of Gandhi.[6] However, in 1926 upon learning of the murder of four members of the Catholic Association of Mexican Youth he joined the National League for the Defense of Religious Freedom, supporting the coming rebellion.[8] He wrote, "the country is a jail for the Catholic Church...We are not worried about defending our material interests because these come and go; but our spiritual interests, these we will defend because they are necessary to obtain our salvation.[7]
In January 1927, having endured religious persecution, rebels began the Cristero War. González did not take up arms but gave speeches, encouraging Catholics to support the Cristeros financially and with food, accommodation and clothing. He wrote pamphlets and gave speeches supporting the cause against the anticlerical government.
Seeking to quash the rebellion, the government sought capture of the leaders of the Popular Union and the National League for the Defence of Religious Freedom. González was captured and framed with charges that he murdered American Edgar Wilkens, when in fact the government knew that Wilkens had been killed by his robber, Guadalupe Zuno.[7] González was tortured, including being hung by his thumbs pulling them out of their sockets, having his shoulder fractured with a rifle butt and having the bottom of his feet slashed.[8] On April 1, 1927, he was executed by firing squad.[8] Echoing the words of assassinated Ecuadorian President, Gabriel García Moreno, in defiance of the forces seeking to suppress his faith, González' last words were, "Hear Americas for the second time: I die but God does not! Viva Cristo Rey!"[9]
Wilkens' widow, who knew González had been framed, wrote a letter of protest to Washington, D.C. exonerating him. A letter staying his execution arrived shortly after he was shot.[7]
Popular culture
González was portrayed by actor Eduardo Verástegui in the film Cristiada (English: For Greater Glory), which also starred Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria and Peter O'Toole.[10]
References
- ^ Benedict XVI (2005). "Apostolic Letter by which The Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI has Raised to The Glory of The Altars". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Archived from the original on June 25, 2015.
- ^ "Papa declara Nuevo patrono para católicos en México". Siete 24. July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
- ^ López-Menéndez, Marisol (2016). Miguel Pro: Martyrdom, Politics, and Society in Twentieth-Century Mexico. Lexington Books. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-4985-0426-3.
- ^ Greene, Graham. The Lawless Roads, Prologue (Penguin Classics 1993)
- ^ Cruz, p.40.
- ^ a b c Cruz, p.41.
- ^ a b c d Cruz, p.42.
- ^ a b c José Anacleto González Flores and eight Companions Vatican News Services November 20, 2005
- ^ Parsons, Wilfrid Mexican Martyrdom p. 38 2003 Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 0-7661-7246-5
- ^ Cristiada (2011) IMDb, accessed October 8, 2010
Sources
- Cruz, Joan Carrol Saintly Men of Modern Times p. 40, 2003 Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, ISBN 1-931709-77-7
- 1888 births
- 1927 deaths
- 20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs
- 20th-century venerated Christians
- Beatifications by Pope Benedict XVI
- Cristero War
- People from Guadalajara, Jalisco
- Executed Mexican people
- People executed by Mexico by firing squad
- Mexican torture victims
- Victims of anti-Catholic violence in Mexico
- Mexican activists
- Mexican beatified people
- Religious persecution