Faith of Our Brothers

May 1, 2026

K of C councils fan the flame of devotion to the Cristero martyrs, including nine brother Knights

By Elisha Valladares-Cormier

May 1, 2026

An aerial view shows the Sanctuary of Christ the King in Guanajuato, Mexico’s geographic center. After the Mexican government bombed the site in 1928, the shrine was rebuilt in 1944 with financial support from the Order. (Photo by Eduardo de la Peña)

In October 1923, Father Pedro de Jesús Maldonado Lucero reported to his new assignment at Santo Cristo de Burgos Parish in Jiménez, Chihuahua. There, he met Yucundo Durán, the newly elected grand knight of Santo Cristo de Jiménez Council 2418, and the pair likely discussed opportunities for the council to collaborate with Father Maldonado, a brother Knight.

But Father Maldonado’s pastorate ended after two months; the 33-year-old priest was reassigned to protect him from frequent beatings by members of local Masonic groups — foreshadowing the Mexican government’s bloody anticlerical persecution.

Both men would be killed for their faith — Durán in 1927, upon admitting to being a Knight of Columbus, and Father Maldonado a decade later, after hearing confessions on Ash Wednesday. They are among an estimated 200,000 people, including more than 70 Knights of Columbus, killed during the persecution. Forty have been declared saints or blesseds — including nine Knights, among them Father Maldonado and five other priest-martyrs whose feast is celebrated May 21.

By organizing pilgrimages to two national shrines and cultivating deeper devotion to the Cristero martyrs in Mexico and beyond, Knights today play a crucial role in preserving a faith blessed by the blood of martyrs.

“The martyrs’ witness should inspire and encourage us in the mission we have today,” said Supreme Director Jorge Estrada during a national K of C pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Christ the King in Guanajuato on March 15. “Let us not allow others to act while we remain mere spectators.”

Pedro Rubén Romero Olivera, deputy grand knight of Nuestra Señora de las Victorias Council 14374 in Zapopan, Mexico West, leads the prayer of the faithful during the closing Mass of the Mexico National Convention at the Sanctuary of the Martyrs of Christ the King in Guadalajara, on May 18, 2025. (Photo by Roy Araiza Studio)

HALLOWED GROUND

The Sanctuary of Christ the King sits atop Cubilete Hill in Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico’s geographic center. A small chapel was constructed at the bottom of the hill in 1920, and a 6-foot statue of Christ the King was erected at the top in 1923 — only to be blown up by the government five years later.

Construction on the new monument began in 1944 with financial support from the Knights of Columbus, and local councils made pilgrimages to the shrine as early as 1948 — two years before the installation of a 65-foot-tall bronze statue of Christ the King. Completed in 1960, the shrine stands at an elevation of 8,400 feet.

Knights from each of the five Mexican jurisdictions converge in March for an annual pilgrimage to honor Christ the King and the Mexican Martyrs. In addition to attending Mass together, Knights and their family members consecrate themselves to St. Joseph and venerate the relics of several martyrs.

“The shrine reminds us that Christ is King, and he is the King of Peace,” said rector Father Rubén de la Cruz Martínez. “This shrine was built in times of so much persecution and conflict. And yet faith moves mountains.”

About 170 miles west, just outside Guadalajara, Jalisco, stands another Cristero monument — the Sanctuary of the Martyrs of Christ the King. Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, archbishop of Guadalajara from 1994 to 2011, sought to create a place of pilgrimage to house relics of every Cristero martyr, and construction began in 2007, supported in part by $2 million in grants and a subsequent $1 million loan from the Supreme Council.

The work is ongoing, but when completed, it will include a church and atrium accommodating a combined 62,000 people, along with a retreat center — the largest shrine complex in Mexico. It is also home to two reliquaries containing relics of the canonized and beatified martyrs.

“In a diocese like ours, where we have the testimony of so many people who shed their blood for the sake of Christ, we could not have preserved the living memory of their example in any other way,” said Auxiliary Bishop Héctor López Alvarado of Guadalajara. “They encourage us to be true witnesses in the present day.”

Fourth Degree Knights escort relics of St. Pedro de Jesús Maldonado into the shrine dedicated to the martyr in Chihuahua. — Fourth Degree Knights escort relics of St. Pedro de Jesús Maldonado into the shrine dedicated to the martyr in Chihuahua on Feb. 8. Many of the Knights belong to Fray Alonso Briones Council 2419, of which Father Maldonado was a charter member. (Photo by María Paula Estrada)

In addition to helping plan the annual national pilgrimage each June, local Knights serve as custodians for one of the complete relic sets during its veneration tour. Teams of four Knights take turns — for three months at a time — overseeing the reliquary’s travels to parishes in the Archdiocese of Guadalajara and beyond; there are also plans to bring the reliquary to the United States.

“We take pride in guarding the relics at the shrine — the blood of martyrs shed on our soil,” said Mexico West State Deputy Sergio Vázquez. “As we transport and safeguard these relics, our martyrs remind us every day that our commitment to Christ means accompanying him always, even unto death.”

HOMETOWN HEROES

While the national pilgrimages to the shrines give Knights and their families fraternal opportunities to honor the martyrs, many councils in Mexico foster devotion locally. Often, knowledge of the Cristero War and its martyrs is limited due to decades of official silence and omission from Mexican history textbooks.

In Monterrey, Mexico Northeast, a chapel served by Santa Filomena Parish fell into disrepair after being closed for several years. Named Señor de los Afligidos (Lord of the Afflicted), the chapel once connected many to the faith. Seeing a need, Santa Filomena Council 16296 recently decided to renovate the chapel so it can open again under the patronage of the Mexican martyrs. Work is now underway to reinforce the structure and build an oratory dedicated to Blessed Michael McGivney.

“The influence of the martyrs is minimal in Monterrey,” said Joel Aguirre, a member of the council. “It’s a challenge to make them known. But the martyrs were witnesses to Christ’s love, and we as Knights of Columbus also want to be witnesses of that love, sharing and giving of ourselves to those in need.”

Spreading devotion to the martyrs hits home for Knights from Fray Alonso Briones Council 2419 in Chihuahua, Mexico Northwest. Among its charter members was Father Pedro de Jesús Maldonado.

Joel Aguirre (center) speaks on behalf of Santa Filomena Council 16296 during an event at El Señor de los Afligidos Chapel in Monterrey. Last year, the council began renovating the chapel to reopen it under the patronage of the Mexican martyrs. (Photo by Media Arts Center)

Knights entrust themselves to their brother’s intercession at the start of every council meeting, and the Archdiocese of Chihuahua has charged the council with escorting a relic of the saint throughout the diocese for veneration, including to events commemorating the martyr’s death each February.

In other cases, Knights have helped bring those stories to light. In the 1990s, members of Excmo. Sr. Obispo Cázares y Martínez Council 4637 in Sahuayo, Mexico West, played a lead role in initiating the cause for canonization of José Sánchez del Río, the 14-year-old known as “Joselito,” who was tortured and killed for refusing to renounce his faith. They collected witness statements, served as official observers for the exhumation of his remains and helped prepare the positio, or official testimony, for the Vatican.

Mario Higareda, 90, a member of Council 4637 since 1959, called his participation in the process — which culminated in Joselito’s canonization in 2016 — one of his life’s greatest achievements.

“Our parents told us about … [the] little saint, how he had given his life for Christ, but he wasn’t really known,” said Higareda. “He was left forgotten. But then, the Knights of Columbus took up the cause.”

INTERNATIONAL APPEAL

In the United States, general interest in the Cristero War was minimal until 2012, when For Greater Glory — the star-studded feature film about the Cristeros, produced with assistance from the Supreme Council — was released. More than a decade later, the film resonates with audiences, and K of C councils continue to screen it to educate members and parishioners about the conflict and its heroes.

A woman venerates relics of the six Knights of Columbus priest-martyrs at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Aurora, Colo., on March 8. — A woman venerates the relics of the six Knights of Columbus priest-martyrs after Mass at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Aurora, Colo., on March 8. (Photo by Rachel Woolf)

“When we show the film to our members, it motivates them to share the story and the Knights with other men,” said Adrian Dominguez, a past state deputy of Arkansas and a charter member of Los Martires Mexicanos Council 14609 in Rogers. “It’s an opportunity to learn what the Cristeros went through, and guys will be in tears watching it.”

The Order’s promotion of the martyrs long predates For Greater Glory, including decades of Columbia articles, books and other media. One of the most effective ways of introducing the martyrs has been a traveling silver cross reliquary containing relics of the Order’s six priest-martyr saints.

“The martyrs were witnesses to Christ’s love, and we as Knights of Columbus also want to be witnesses of that love.”

The reliquary was a gift from Knights in Mexico to the Supreme Council in 2000, and it toured Mexico before embarking on its first U.S. trek in 2006. It continues to travel as requested by state and local councils, and jurisdictions in the United States in particular have made a concerted effort to use the relics to connect with Hispanic men and their families.

Colorado hosted the relics March 6-15, and State Deputy Marc Solome was impressed with the turnout, estimating at least 5,000 people venerated the relics during stops in two dioceses.

“It builds inroads with the Hispanic community,” Solome said of the tour. “The martyrs help invite the Hispanic community to the Knights and lay a foundation to continue growing it in the future.”

Jesús Barón stands guard next to relics of Mexican martyrs during an April 18 veneration at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. — Jesús Barón, faithful pilot of Father Hawe Assembly 45 in Santa Monica, Calif., stands guard next to relics of Mexican martyrs during an April 18 veneration service at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, held during an archdiocesan event marking the centennial of the Cristero War. (Photo by Juanito Holandez Jr.)

Two months earlier, the cross reliquary had passed through North Carolina, where a surging Hispanic population has contributed to regional Catholic growth. The tour was personally significant for José Blanco, past grand knight of Our Lady of Mercy Council 10504 in Winston-Salem and a native of Jalisco. He grew up hearing his grandfather’s stories of Cristeros liberating their hometown of Degollado, and it was Blanco’s father, who joined the Knights in Mexico, who first shared with him the Order’s connection to the martyrs.

“People ask me if the persecution really happened, so I tell them what my grandfather told me,” said Blanco. “They had no idea.”

Blanco observed that current political tensions in the United States have left many in his community with a sense of uncertainty, but venerating the martyrs’ relics brought peace — and for others, inspiration.

At one veneration service, Blanco noticed a teenage boy listening intently as the martyrs’ biographies were being read. Afterward, he approached Blanco, asking, “Do you think I have the strength to be like them?”

Months later, his words still resonated. “What are we willing to do for faith?” Blanco reflected. “Let’s hope we have the faith and eagerness to do what is needed, when the time comes.”

*****

ELISHA VALLADARES-CORMIER is senior editor of Columbia and a member of Fremont (Ohio) Council 591.

Participants in the March of St. Joseph arrive at the Shrine of St. Joseph in the Podgórze district of Kraków.

Faith of Our Brothers

HALLOWED GROUND

HOMETOWN HEROES

INTERNATIONAL APPEAL

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