José Sánchez del Río

Enlisted as a standard-bearer for the Cristeros, José Sánchez del Río was taken prisoner at the beginning of February 1928 during a battle (sources differ on the exact date, between January 25 and February 6, and on the precise location). He was locked in the chapel, or sacristy, of the parish church of Sahuayo. According to accounts transmitted by the postulation and hagiographical sources, his jailers sought to make him abjure by ordering him to shout "Death to Christ the King." The teenager stubbornly refused. Before his execution, he endured cruel tortures: it is said that the soles of his feet were cut or flayed, forcing him to walk in that state to the cemetery. On February 10, 1928, he was put to death, struck with a bladed weapon and then finished off with a gunshot. Until the end, he reportedly repeated "¡Viva Cristo Rey!" and invoked the Virgin of Guadalupe. Tradition attributes to him, as his final words addressed to his family, the phrase "Que viva Cristo Rey, y que en el cielo nos veremos" ("Long live Christ the King, and we shall see each other in heaven"). His death makes him one of the most famous figures of the Cristero martyrology.

The figure of José Sánchez del Río is carried by the memory of his refusal to deny his faith in the face of death. Hagiographic sources highlight his early piety, his attachment to the Eucharist, and his Marian devotion, particularly toward Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Cristeros reportedly nicknamed him "Tarcisio" (Tarcisius), in reference to the young Roman martyr of Christian antiquity associated with the defense of the Eucharist, underscoring the parallel between the two adolescents giving their lives for their faith. His constancy during his imprisonment and torture, his repeated refusal to utter a blasphemy to save his life, and his cry "Long live Christ the King" repeated until the end, fostered a reputation for holiness very early on. The Church recognized him as a martyr, that is to say, a person put to death in hatred of the faith (in odium fidei), which, in canonical procedure, dispenses with the requirement of recognizing a miracle for the beatification stage. His youth and the radical nature of his testimony have made him, in Mexico and beyond, a spiritual reference for children and adolescents.

The cause of José Sánchez del Río led to his recognition as venerable on June 22, 2004, under the pontificate of John Paul II. He was beatified on November 20, 2005, in Guadalajara, during a celebration presided over, in the name of Pope Benedict XVI, by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He was then part of a group of Mexican martyrs of the religious persecution, beatified at the same time as Anacleto González Flores and his companions. His canonization subsequently required the recognition of a miracle obtained through his intercession: Pope Francis approved this miracle on January 21, 2016. The recognized healing concerns, according to several sources, the unexplained recovery of a little girl from Sahuayo whose survival doctors had deemed impossible. José Sánchez del Río was canonized by Pope Francis on October 16, 2016, in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. His liturgical feast is set for February 10, the anniversary of his martyrdom.

The cult of José Sánchez del Río enjoys a particular radiance in Mexico, where "Joselito, the little Cristero" has become a popular figure of the Cristero War. He is honored as the patron of children and adolescents, as well as of persecuted Christians, and remains closely associated with his hometown of Sahuayo, of which he is one of the patron saints. His relics are kept and venerated in the church of Saint James the Apostle (Santiago Apóstol) in Sahuayo, where they are placed above a side altar. His memory is carried by Catholic youth movements, which see in him a model of fidelity and courage at an adolescent level. His story has inspired accounts, popular biographies, and works of fiction, particularly in the wake of the memory of the Cristeros. Beyond Mexico, his canonization by Pope Francis in 2016 made him a reference for youth ministry and a witness to martyrdom in the contemporary Church.