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1/31/2018 1 Comment Viva Cristo Rey! Father Dedë "Ciprian" Nikacj was arrested by the secret police of the Communist Party, in Albania. Falsely accused of concealing weapons behind a church altar, he was tortured until he was executed -- shot to death, on March 11, 1948.
VIVA CRISTO REY!
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1/31/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!  "I am innocent, and I die innocent. I forgive with all my heart those responsible for my death, and I ask God that the shedding of my blood serves toward the peace of our divided Mexico," said Father Cristóbal Magallanes Jara, as he faced his executioners and absolved them before they shot him to death, on May 25, 1927.
During the Cristero War, the Christian uprising against the oppressive anti-clerical Mexican government that persecuted Catholics, Father Cristóbal Magallanes Jara was arrested on his way to say Mass. For being a priest, he received a death sentence. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/30/2018 1 Comment Viva Cristo Rey! Father Josif Mihali was arrested, in Albania, in 1945, for being a priest and was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in the marshes. On October 26, 1948, he collapsed, and guards forced other prisoners to bury him alive. He died of suffocation.
VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/30/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey! Facing the firing squad, in the Cemetery of Bethlehem, Father David Galvan Bermudez refused to be blindfolded and calmly pointed to his chest, where he would be shot, on January 30, 1915, the same day he was arrested for being a priest.
The Mexican government's anti-clerical stance had begun following the dethroning and execution of Emperor Maximillian, in 1867. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/29/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!   After his arrest for being a Catholic priest, Father Lazër Shantoja was tortured so severely, his legs and arms were broken and his body ravaged with blows until his execution with a shotgun blast, on February 19, 1945, in Tirana, Albania.
The priest was one of the first to suffer persecution before the Communists had even taken control of the Albanian government, and his execution had been ordered by sadistic Enver Halil Hoxha. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/29/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!   Standing on the side of the road, Father Luis Batiz Sainz was given the opportunity to save his life.
The federal soldiers, armed with guns, told him all he had to do was acknowledge the legitimacy of the virulent anti-Catholic, Mexican government. The priest refused and was shot on the spot, on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15, 1926, in the desolate mountains of Chalchihuites, Zacatecas. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/28/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!   For two weeks, Father Gjon "Serafin" Koda was tortured by Communist authorties, who told him he could save himself if only he would agree that his Franciscan confreres gathered for political reasons to plot against the government led by Enver Halil Hoxha.
Father Koda refused to agree to the lie and was killed after his torturers drove nails through his throat, on May 11, 1947, in Lezhë, Albania. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/28/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!   "Here I am," said Salvador Lara Puente when the Mexican federal soldiers arrived to arrest him.
A member of the National League for Defense of Religious Liberty, an organization that defended Catholics against the persecution of Mexico's government during the Cristero War, he was arrested during one of its meetings. After driven to the mountains, he realized he was going to be executed, and he walked to the spot, praying in a low voice. Offered his life and his freedom in exchange for his recognition of the legitimacy of the anti-Catholic government, he refused and was shot on the spot, on August 15, 1926. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/27/2018 0 Comments Fair Use DisclaimerFair Use Disclaimer
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Under the 'fair use' rule of copyright law, an author may make limited use of another author's work without asking permission. Fair use is based on the belief that the public is entitled to freely use portions of copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary and criticism. The fair use privilege is perhaps the most significant limitation on a copyright owner's exclusive rights. Fair use as described at 17 U.S.C. Section 107: "Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phono-records or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include: · (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for or nonprofit educational purposes, · (2) the nature of the copyrighted work, · (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and · (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work." 1/27/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!    Under the dictatorship of Enver Halil Hoxha, Albania's Catholics suffered severe persecution, including Kolë "Gjon" Shllaku, who was arrested and tortured for weeks.
In January 1946, he was subjected to a show trial, and his sentence was publicly read, on February 22, when he was sentenced to death. At 6 a.m., on March 4, as he stood in the Catholic cemetery of Scutari and faced the firing squad of eight soldiers armed with machine guns, he said, "Give my farewell to my Franciscan brothers and to all those I know and who know me." The common cry of the condemned was: "Long live Christ the King! Long live Albania!" VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/27/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!  Manuel Moralez, president of the National League for the Defense of Religious Liberty in Mexico during the Cristero War, was arrested a few days after a League meeting, during which he said, "The league should be peaceful and not interfere in political affairs. Our project is to implore the government to remove the articles of the Constitution that prevent religious freedom."
Imprisoned in the town hall, he was beaten and tortured, until August 15, when soldiers removed him from his cell and drove him to the mountains near Chalchihuites. Accused of conspiring to revolt against the government, he was brought forward with another who begged for Moralez's freedom, because he had children to support. Moralez said, "I am dying for God, and God will care for my children." And before his execution by firing squad, he hollered, "Long live Christ the King and Our Lady of Guadalupe!" VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/26/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey! Under the dictatorship of Enver Halil Hoxha, Albania's Catholics suffered severe persecution.
Gjon Pantalla, who had entered the Jesuits as a professed religious, was arrested, and when he tried to escape his Communist captors and torturers, he jumped out of a window, broke his legs, was recaptured and soon died of his injuries, on October 31, 1947, Vigil of All Saints. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/26/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey! An active member of Catholic Action David Roldán Lara was arrested, accused of conspiring to revolt against the government, beaten and tortured during the Cristero War during the persecution of the Catholic Church by the Mexican government.
Days later, at noon, on August 15, 1926, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he was taken to a remote spot in the mountains and executed by a firing squad, after he shouted, "Long live Christ the King and Our Lady of Guadalupe!" VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/26/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey! During the Communist persecution of Catholics in Albania, Father Luigj Prendushi was accused of being a spy for the Vatican and arrested, in Naraç, on December 5, 1946, and imprisoned in Shkodra. On December 16, 1946, he was sentenced to death. He was shot, because of hatred of the Faith, on January 24, 1947, in a desolate location in Shelqet, where his remains were found and recovered 45 years later and returned to his hometown.
VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/26/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey! In defense of the Faith, clergy, religious and laity, many priests joined the fight during the persecution of the Catholic Church by the Mexican government, which caused the Cristero War.
One priest was Padre Miguel Pérez Aldape, a regimental chaplain, who defended the Holy Cause with his crucifx, a saddlebag with his vestment stole, and a 30-30 rifle. In the December 1928 photo are (L to R): Colonel Victor Lopez, General Miguel Hernandez, Colonel Toribio Valdez, Padre Miguel Perez Aldape, and Lieutenant Teniente Eulogio Gonzalez. Defending the Faith, Lieutenant Gonzalez was a sharpshooting sniper, an honorable man who humbly admitted that he shot more than 100 Federal soldiers, but much regretted leaving many families without a father, son, brother, husband. He married Maria Hernandez de Mendoza, cousin of General Miguel Hernandez. The lieutenant and his wife are Bob Parr's grandparents. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/24/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!   Father Lek Sirdani delivered a sermon, on July 26, 1948, during which he mentioned the activities of Communists in Albania. The next day, July 27, he was arrested and tortured. On July 29, he was thrown into a large cesspool, filled with the human waste from all inmate bathrooms, where he died of suffocation.
VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/24/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey! Before Padre Tranquilino Ubiarco Robles was executed, the general called one of the youngest soldiers to kill the priest. With trembling hands, the soldier held the shotgun pointed at the head of the priest and suddenly dropped it and started crying, saying over and over again, "l can not kill this man."
"If you don't do it, you are going to die along with him," the general threatened, on October 5, 1928. "Let it be it, then," answered the soldier. "But before you die, just tell me what is the reason why you would not kill this man." The young soldier answered, "Sir l cannot shoot this man, because he is my godfather and is the one who gave me the Sacrament of Baptism and the one who gave me my First Communion." And with that, the soldier was shot in the same spot, screaming, "Viva Cristo Rey! Viva Cristo Rey!" As told by Michael Gutierrez, whose very special father, David Gutierrez Polomino, a teenage witness at the time of the Mexican Cristero War, had told him. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/23/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey! Under the dictatorship of Enver Halil Hoxha, Albania's Catholics suffered severe persecution.
Father Daniel Dajani was arrested on December 31, 1945, sent to solitary confinement for two months and tortured. Sentenced to death on 22 February 1946; he was shot dead at 6 in the morning, on March 4, 1946, behind the Catholic cemetery of Scutari. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/23/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!    As Padre José María Robles Hurtado prepared to offer Mass, Mexican soldiers arrested him and dragged him to a barracks, where, at midnight, he was tied and forced to walk to Sierra de Quila, where at the highest point, soldiers stopped at a leafy oak tree.
Understanding he was to be hanged, the priest took the rope in his hands, blessed it and threw it around his neck, before the soldiers executed him, in the early morning hours of June 26, 1927. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/22/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!   Father Giovanni Fausti, the Jesuit vice provincial in Communist-ruled Albania, was arrested on December 31, 1945, accused of being a traitor to Albania and a spy for the Vatican. He was tortured by the Communists for two months until he was executed, shot to death, at 6 a.m., on February 22, 1946.
VIVA CRISTO REY! Ati Giovanni Fausti, nënkryetarja e jezuitëve në Shqipërinë e kontrolluar nga komunizmi, u arrestua më 31 dhjetor 1945, akuzuar se ishte tradhtar në Shqipëri dhe një spiun për Vatikanin. Ai u torturua nga komunistët për dy muaj derisa ai u ekzekutua, i qëlluar me vdekje, në orën 6 të mëngjesit, më 22 shkurt 1946. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/22/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!  "I thank God that I die free," were the last words of Maria Tuci, a Catholic arrested by Albanian Communists for her forbidden Catholic religion, on August 10, 1949, Because she refused to answer her torturers, the torment intensified for two months, until her death.
VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/22/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey! Cristeros, in Colima, executed by the firing squad for their Catholic Faith during the anti-Catholic persecution of the Church in the 1920s and '30s, when countless faithful were martyred, and 4,000 priests were martyred in or exiled from Mexico for offering the outlawed Sacraments.
VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/21/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!  The six Martyrs of Leon were arrested and then escorted to their place of execution.
"Courage, my brothers, remember the cause we stand for!" cried Nicolas Navarro, who was beaten in the face to break his teeth, stabbed with a sword, and then shot. "Yes, I die for Christ, who never dies! Viva Cristo Rey!" were his last words. The six Martyrs of Leon were executed, on January 3, 1927, for remaining faithful to the Catholic Church during a time of great persecution in Mexico, when the governemtn outlawed Catholicism, sparking an uprising, the Cristero War. Martyrs of Leon: Jose Valencia Gallardo, Salvador Vargas, Nicolas Navarro, Ezequiel Gomez, Agustin Rio and Jose Gasca. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/20/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!    14-year-old Italian seminarian Rolando Rivi was abducted by Communists, who stripped him of his cassock, beat him and imprisoned him in a pigpen.
"Tomorrow, one less priest," one of the Communists threatened. The next day, April 13, 1945, Rolando was led to a shallow grave and forced to kneel at its edge, where he requested, "Allow me the time to say a prayer for my father and mother," seconds before he was shot once in the left temple and once in the heart. VIVA CRISTO REY! 1/20/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!   For being a priest when Catholicism was outlawed by the Mexican government during the Cristero War, Padre Jenaro Sánchez Delgadillo was arrested by Federal Army soldiers, who put a rope around his neck.
"Well, countrymen, they are going to hang me, I forgive them and my Father God also forgives them, and always, Long live Christ the King!" he said, surrounded by soldiers. Soldiers pulled the rope violently as they raised him on the impromptu gallows, but he remained alive until later that night, January 17, 1927. At dawn, the soldiers returned, dropped the dead priest to the ground, shot him in the shoulder, then bayonetted his dead body. VIVA CRISTO REY! |
AuthorTHERESA MARIE MOREAU is an award-winning reporter who covers Catholicism and Communism. Archives
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