Feast May 21 | Name Agustin Cortes | |
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Born May 5, 1898
El Teul, Zacatecas, Mexico ( 1898-05-05 ) Died May 25, 1927(1927-05-25) (aged 29)
Colotlan, Jalisco, Mexico Canonized May 21, 2000 by Pope John Paul II Major shrine San Juan Bautista del Teul Parish, Zacatecas, Mexico | ||
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church | ||
San agustin caloca cortes pbro martir
Agustín Caloca Cortés (May 5, 1898 – May 25, 1927) was one of the martyrs of Mexico during the Cristero War.
Father Caloca Cortés was born in El Teúl, Zacatecas. He served as a minister in the parish of Totatiche and as prefect of the auxiliar seminary established in that town by Cristóbal Magallanes Jara.
In May 1927, he arrived at the seminary to announce that Mexican government soldiers were approaching Totatiche. He ordered the students to abandon the seminary and disperse among the town's population. After helping the students escape, he was taken prisoner and transferred to a jail in Colotlán where he was reunited with Father Magallanes Jara.
He was purportedly offered his freedom by a military officer on account of his young age, but Caloca Cortes refused his freedom unless freedom was also granted to Father Magallanes Jara.
His last words before execution by fire squad were, "We live for God and for Him we die."
He was originally buried in Colotlán but his remains were later exhumed and transferred to the parish of San Juan Bautista in El Teúl.