Blessed Miguel Pro
Blessed Miguel Pro was a Mexican Jesuit priest and a martyr for the faith. Born in 1891, he was one of 11 children from a devout and affluent mining family in Guadalupe. Miguel Pro joined the Jesuit novitiate in 1911, but its members were forced to flee to the United States three years later to escape an atmosphere of religious intolerance at home. He later studied theology in Belgium, where he was ordained in 1925.
Miguel Pro was known as a deeply spiritual, charitable and cheerful man. When he returned to Mexico in 1926, the Catholic Church was facing intense persecution at the hands of the government. Father Pro went underground, wearing a variety of disguises to secretly celebrate Mass and bring the sacraments to the faithful.
Father Pro was executed in 1927 after being falsely accused of a bombing and the attempted murder of a public official. He stood before the firing squad with arms stretched out to form a cross, proclaiming forgiveness for those who hurt him and crying out “Long live Christ the King.” Pope John Paul II named his blessed in 1988.
