Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
James Murphy
Imprimi Potest:
Thomas D. Picton, C.Ss.R.
Provincial, Denver Province
The Redemptorists
2007, Liguori Publications
Liguori, Missouri 63057-9999
ISBN 978-0-7648-1666-6
Printed in the United States of America
07 08 09 10 11 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means except for brief quotations
in printed reviews without the prior
written permission of Liguori Publications.
Photographs in this book were available
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 Born in a Time of
Peace
Chapter 2 Well Adjusted in the
Seminary
Chapter 3
Assignments
Given
Difficult
Obedient
Under
Unto
Acknowledgments
am indebted to my bishop,
William
Weigand,
of
Sacramento,
who
encouraged me to write this
booklet. I am also indebted to
many members of the Romo
familycousins
of
Toribio
Romofor their help with the
research: Jesus and Teresita
Romo, Susanna Romo, Maria
Elena Gutierrez, and Teresa
Sandra
Perez,
Dr.
Holly
Peterson, Julie Sly, Jorge Usi,
Roberto
Vellanoweth,
and
Father Octavio Ventura, LC.
Introduction
ne of the conundrums of
Mexican history is how a
country that is 90 percent
Catholic
could
have
experienced such a brutal
persecution of the Church in
the twentieth century. Just
south of our border in the
1920s and 1930s, priests were
hunted down and shot, Church
property was confiscated, and
1553.
What went wrong, then, in
this
five-hundred-year-old
culture that had reached such
heights of art and learning?
How could a country so deeply
Catholic become so alienated
from
its
roots
that
its
government would try to
stamp out Catholicism forever?
And how did ordinary Catholics
survive under such fanatical
policies?
CHAPTER 1
during
Lent
they
fasted
religiously. Like so many rural
communities in Mexico, the
people of Santa Ana loved the
Church, and they were thankful
that they could practice their
faith without interference from
the state.
The priests from Jalos came
to Santa Ana as often as they
could to hear confessions and
visit the sick, and when they
stayed overnight, they found
lodging at the home of the
stayed at school.
Quica and her kid brother
earned their money the hard
way. She washed clothes and
made
tortillas
for
the
neighbors, and he pitched in
after
school
delivering
packages. Nevertheless, they
found time for prayer: they
went to Mass every morning,
made a visit to the Blessed
Sacrament during the day, and
prayed the rosary together at
night. Eventually the whole
CHAPTER 2
students.
Academically, Toribio was at
the top of his class. He had a
special love of Latin and used
to take over the class when the
professor could not make it, a
role that earned him the
nickname
of
Maestro
(teacher). Not surprisingly,
he was elected class president.
But the most noteworthy thing
about these years was his
profound interest in Rerum
Novarum, the encyclical of
a visit.
Orozco was one of the giants
of the Church in Mexico, a
bearded patriarch who was
admired by all for his
leadership during a time of
persecution. Yes, persecution!
By this time the peace between
church and state was long
over. Three presidents had
come and gone since the days
of Porfirio Daz, and the
atrocities of the past were back
with a vengeance. Out-of-
CHAPTER 3
Given Difficult
Assignments
indication
of
Toribios
effectiveness among young
people.
It was at this time that an
ominous
development
in
Mexican history intersected
with the life of Toribio Romo
and must be mentioned here.
In July 1926 a mass uprising
broke
out
against
the
government of Plutarco Calles,
the military strongman who
was president of Mexico at this
time. The insurgents, known as
suddenness
with
which
sympathizers
joined
the
movement). And it was in this
town that a famous open-air
Mass was celebrated on a hill
outside the town on the feast of
Christ the King in 1925.
Fathers Toribio and Orona
organized that Mass, and
people came from miles around
some fifteen thousand in all
in a kind of public defiance
of the governments policy of
persecution. It was a heavenly
atrocities
of
the
Calles
government was reaching the
U.S., where American Catholics
were
pressuring
President
Calvin
Coolidge
to
do
something
about
them.
Coolidge eventually did, and
Calles, who by now was
chastened by the success of the
rebellion,
accepted
his
intervention and agreed to
back off on the confiscation of
Church property and banning
of religious instruction in
public schools.
This concession settled the
war, but it didnt please the
Cristeros, who felt betrayed by
the bishops. Actually, the
Cristeros had felt that way all
along. To them, the bishops
were too passive, leaders who
defended the people with
words but refused to stand up
and fight. One can imagine the
discussions that must have
taken place between Toribio
and his friends about how to
religious
services
were
available, even if it was only
Communion stations. One day
in Guadalajara, a city of
180,000, more than 60,000
people received Communion. If
the intention had been to
stamp out Catholicism in
Mexico, the plan was failing
miserably.
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
he politician responsible
for the killing of Toribio
Romo wasnt all bad. In
fact, were it not for the
religion issue, Plutarco Calles
might be considered one of the
better presidents of Mexico. He
had deep convictions about
justice and equality, and he
expanded
government
programs
for
the
disadvantaged in a nation that
has always had a gap between
the haves and the have-nots.
Who should be able to reach
out a hand to the poor? he
asked a reporter once, then
answered the question himself:
Only
one
agencythe
government.
During his time as president,
the government did indeed
extend a hand to the poor.
Sonora,
he
made
the
unprecedented decision to ban
every Catholic priest from the
state!
The
American
ambassador was so taken
aback by this that he wrote to
the Secretary of State about it
in 1926: The president has
become so violent on the
religious question that he has
lost control of himself. When
this topic has been dealt with
in his presence, his face turns
red and he has hit the table to
CHAPTER 6