2/4/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!"Before God, in whose presence I am about to go and in front of you, dear soldiers, I declare that I am murdered because of hatred against the Catholic Church. And I say it without bitterness or hatred for those who are shooting me," said Father Dedë Maçaj, seconds before his execution by firing squad.
"Long live Christ the King! Long live the Pope! Long live Albania!" he shouted before the bullets hit him, but did not kill him. "A bullet in the head! A bullet in the head!" chanted Communist Party activists, as Father Dedë Maçaj fell to the ground, dead, on March 28, 1947 in Përmet, Albania. VIVA CRISTO REY!
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2/4/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!Father Arroyo officiated the final Holy Mass, on July 30, 1926, in Valparaiso, Zacatecas, before the Mass, the Sacraments and even priests were outlawed by the anti-Catholic policies of the Mexican government, which enacted, under President Plutarco Elías Calles, a statute to enforce the anti-clerical articles of the Mexican Constitution of 1917, that sought to eliminate the power of the Catholic Church. The cruel laws resulted in a civil uprising, the Cristero War (1926–29).
VIVA CRISTO REY! 2/3/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!"If you see my family one day, tell them that I'm innocent and die for my faith in Christ," said Father Anton Muzaj, who had been arrested, in October 1947, in the Communist-led Albania, because he was a Catholic priest.
In prison, he was endlessly tortured, forced to stand for days and nights, with his hands and legs tied together and his nose against a wall. When he could no longer stand, he was severely beaten by the sadistic guards. Unable to move, he was forced to lie in an icy draft, developed tuberculosis and died soon thereafter as a result of all the torture he had received, in the spring of 1948, in Shkodra. VIVA CRISTO REY! 2/3/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!An "illegal" underground Mass on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15, 1929, when the Holy Mass and the Sacraments were outlawed and priests became enemies of the State during the Cristero War (1926–29), a civil revolt in Mexico against the anti-Catholic policies of the Mexican government, which enacted, under President Plutarco Elías Calles, a statute to enforce the anti-clerical articles of the Mexican Constitution of 1917, which sought to eliminate the power of the Catholic Church. Countless faithful were martyred and 4,000 priests were martyred in or exiled from Mexico for offering the outlawed holy sacrifice of the Mass.
VIVA CRISTO REY! 2/2/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!Father Alfons Tracki was arrested on June 25, 1946, after administering Last Rites to Ndoc Jakov, a dying Catholic wounded in a battle against Communist guerrillas, in Albania.
After a military court sentenced him to death for anti-Communist activities, he was executed, shot in front of a cemetery wall, in Shkoder, on July 19, 1946, at 5 in the morning. VIVA CRISTO REY! 2/2/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!"Give us our temples, or we will take them!" protested Catholic faithful.
Churches were closed, the Sacraments outlawed and priests became enemies of the state after President Plutarco Elías Calles pushed a statute to enforce the anti-clerical articles of the Mexican Constitution of 1917, which sought to eliminate the power of the Catholic Church. The result was a civil uprising -- the Cristero War (1926–29). Countless faithful were martyred and 4,000 priests were martyred in or exiled from Mexico for offering the outlawed holy sacrifice of the Mass. VIVA CRISTO REY! 2/1/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!Father Pal "Mati" Prennushi was arrested by the Albanian Communists for being a political enemy -- Catholic. For six months he was tortured, until March 11, 1948, when he was marched to a ditch near a vineyard, in Scutari, where he was exectuded with a gunshot.
VIVA CRISTO REY! 2/1/2018 0 Comments Viva Cristo Rey!"We live for God, and for Him we die," declared Father Agustín Caloca Cortés, his last words before executed by the firing squad, on May 25, 1927, in Colotlán, Jalisco, Mexico.
The 29-year-old priest was arrested by the anti-Catholic government, after he had warned seminarians to flee and hide from the approaching federal soldiers. Although offered his freedom, he refused unless freedom would also be granted to his fellow prisoner, Father Magallanes Jara, which was denied. VIVA CRISTO REY! |
AuthorTHERESA MARIE MOREAU is an award-winning reporter who covers Catholicism and Communism. Archives
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