Rafael Guízar y Valencia (16 April 1878 – 6 June 1938) was a Mexican

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who was persecuted during the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

. Named Bishop of Xalapa in 1919, he was driven out of his

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

and forced to live the remainder of his life in hiding in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...

Guízar on 15 October 2006.

Life

Rafael Guízar Valencia was born in Cotija in 1878. His parents, Prudencio and Natividad Guízar y Valencia had eleven children. When Rafael was nine years old, he lost his mother. He attended a catholic school where he got in touch with

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priests. After some time he felt called to priesthood. In 1891 he entered the seminary in Cotija and was ordained in 1901. In 1905 he became spiritual director of the seminary in Zamora. In 1911, he founded a religious newspaper in Mexico, but soon met with political

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

by the revolutionary movement in Mexico which lasted until his death. Guízar lived several times without a home and hid his priestly work under disguises as a street seller, a musician, and a doctor of homeopathic medicine, which allowed him to administer the sacraments in secrecy. At times he had to leave the country and lived in the South of the United States until 1915. In 1916 he went to Guatemala, in 1919 he cared for victims of the black plague. In 1919 he was elected Bishop of Veracruz and was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

in the Cathedral of Saint Christopher in Havana on November 30, 1919. He maintained a clandestine seminary in Mexico, which changed location constantly. Of the years in which Guízar was in charge of the diocese, he had to spend nine years in exile due to persecution. In 1920, he participated in relief and recovery efforts for survivors and towns badly affected by an earthquake which struck Veracruz in January. He collaborated with government officials to raise funds, and conducted sermons in the region. In December 1937, while on a mission in Cordoba, he suffered a heart attack and died on 6 June 1938 in Mexico City. His tomb in the Catholic Cathedral of Xalapa attracts many worshipers who come for intercession.

Veneration

Guízar was beatified by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on 29 January 1995. He was

on 15 October 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI. In April 2006,

confirmed a miracle that happened through the intercession of the Blessed, which opened the way to canonisation in 2006.

References

External links

Patron Saint Index

Official Web Site of his cause

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guizar Valencia, Rafael 1878 births 1938 deaths People from Cotija de la Paz 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Mexico Cristero War Burials in Veracruz Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Canonizations by Pope Benedict XVI 20th-century Christian saints Mexican Roman Catholic saints Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II

Life

Veneration

See also

References

External links