Patron Saint of Immigrants (Spanish Edition)

This booklet chronicles the life of Toribio Romo, a victim of the persecution against the Church in Mexico. Pope John Paul II canonized him in the year 2000, and since then, many have viewed him as a highly popular saint. This book describes the world in which he lived before his martyrdom in 1928.

It demonstrates that the persecution against the Church often produces the opposite effect that the persecutors seek. The book, "The Martyrdom of Saint Toribio Romo," written by Monsignor James Murphy, rector of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Sacrament, depicts those terrible years of Mexican history, as seen through the eyes of a simple, rural priest who became one of the victims: Father Toribio Romo of Jalisco.

The story begins in the small rural community of Santa Ana, where Toribio was born and raised, and where he embarked on his journey from poverty to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Guadalajara. The book describes Father Romo's struggle to obtain an education in a place with no schools and where everyone was illiterate; his interest in Pope Leo XIII's Encyclical Rerum Novarum and the challenges he faced with conservative pastors and wealthy parishioners; his experience as a pastor during the Cristero War, when catechists were hanged on telegraph poles, and his bishop directed the archdiocese from a hiding place in the mountains.

It also recounts the brutal murder of Father Romo by federal troops in February 1928 in a remote canyon outside the town of Tequila, where he served in a makeshift chapel. Father Romo was canonized as a martyr by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000.

This book will interest anyone who wants to learn more about how Mexican Catholics suffered a few decades ago. It holds particular interest for Catholics in California, as around 300 relatives of the saint live in the Sacramento area, and the only relic of Saint Toribio in the United States is located on the altar of the recently restored Cathedral of the Most Holy Sacrament.

Saint Toribio has become well-known among Mexican immigrants crossing into the United States, with many seeing him as their savior in a time when increased border security has claimed more victims among immigrants. In 2002, The New York Times reported numerous stories circulating on the dangerous immigrant trails about a mysterious figure in dark clothing who safely guides men seeking a new life in the United States, asking only for a visit someday to Santa Ana, Jalisco. When many of these immigrants finally visit the town to give thanks, they are surprised to recognize the same face on the altar of the chapel of Saint Toribio. Such stories have multiplied, leading thousands to visit Toribio's relic in Santa Ana. Many voices have risen to call for his official proclamation as the patron saint of immigrants.

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