St. Jose Sanchez del Rio

The Boy Martyr of Christ the King

Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio was born on March 28, 1913, in Sahuayo, Michoacan, Mexico, into a devout Catholic family. He was a cheerful, courageous boy, deeply attached to his faith from a young age. When the Cristero War erupted in 1926, the Mexican government imposed brutally anti-Catholic laws: churches were shuttered, priests were hunted, and public worship was forbidden. Jose’s older brothers joined the Cristeros, fighters who took up arms in defense of religious freedom. Jose, only thirteen years old, begged to be allowed to join. His mother told him, “They have not made saints of children.” He replied, “Mama, let me be the first.”

Finally accepted as a flag bearer, Jose served with a courage beyond his years. In February 1928, during a skirmish, he covered the retreat of his general, Prudencio Mendoza, by giving up his own horse. He was captured by federal troops and imprisoned in the church of his own town, which the soldiers had converted into a jail and cockfighting ring. The authorities tried everything to break him: they forced him to watch the hanging of a fellow Cristero named Lazaro, they offered him freedom if he would renounce the faith, and they promised him escape if he would say “Death to Christ the King.” Jose refused every time.

On the night of February 10, 1928, soldiers skinned the soles of his feet and forced him to walk barefoot over the cobblestone streets to the cemetery. At every step, the boy cried out “Viva Cristo Rey!” When he reached the cemetery, they stabbed him repeatedly. With each blow, his cry grew louder. The last words heard from his lips were: “Viva Cristo Rey! Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe!” He was fourteen years old. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on November 20, 2005, and canonized by Pope Francis on October 16, 2016. His story was brought to film in the 2012 movie “For Greater Glory.”

Timeline