Alvarez Mendoza, Julio, St.
ALVAREZ MENDOZA, JULIO, ST.
Martyr, pastor; b. Dec. 20, 1866, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico; d. Mar. 30, 1927, San Julián, Jalisco. He studied in the seminary of Guadalajara with the financial help of benefactors and was ordained in 1894. Thereafter he was assigned to Mechoacanejo, Jalisco (Diocese of Aguascalientes), where he served with kindness and simplicity the rest of his life. He had an opportunity to leave his parishioners at the beginning of the clerical persecution but chose to stay with his flock. En route to celebrate Mass at a farm, he was identified as a priest and apprehended (Mar. 26, 1927). The following morning he was taken to San Julián, where he was shot after pardoning his executioners. His cadaver was left on the trash heap near the church, where a monument has been erected in his honor. Fr. Alvarez was both beatified (Nov. 22, 1992) and canonized (May 21, 2000) with Cristobal magallanes [see guadalajara (mexico), martyrs of, ss.] by Pope John Paul II.
Feast: May 25 (Mexico).
Bibliography: j. cardoso, Los mártires mexicanos (Mexico City 1953). j. dÍaz estrella, El movimiento cristero: sociedad y conflicto en los Altos de Jalisco (México, D.F. 1979). y. padilla rangel, El Catolicismo social y el movimiento Cristero en Aguascalientes (Aguascalientes 1992).
[k. i. rabenstein]