Toribio Romo González
{{Short description|Mexican priest and martyr of the Cristero War}}
{{Expand Spanish|Toribio Romo González|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific-prefix = Saint
|name=Toribio Romo González
|image=Santo Toribio Romo González.jpg
|imagesize=205px
|caption=
|titles=Martyr
|birth_date={{birth date|1900|4|16|mf=y}}
|birth_place=Santa Ana de Guadalupe, Jalostotitlán, Jalisco, Mexico
|death_date={{death date and age|1928|2|25|1900|4|16|mf=y}}
|death_place=Agua Caliente, Santiago de Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico
|feast_day=May 21 (along with the other Saints of the Cristero War)
|beatified_date=November 22, 1992
|beatified_place= St. Peter's Square, Vatican City
|beatified_by=Pope John Paul II
|canonized_date=May 21, 2000
|canonized_place= St. Peter's Square, Vatican City
|canonized_by=Pope John Paul II
|major_shrine=Santa Ana de Guadalupe, Jalisco, Mexico
|attributes=
|venerated_in=Catholic Church
}}
Toribio Romo González, known as Saint Toribio Romo ({{langx|es|santo Toribio Romo}}, {{IPA|es|ˌsanto toˈɾiβjo ˈromo}}; April 16, 1900 – February 25, 1928) was a Mexican Catholic priest and martyr who was killed during the anti-clerical persecutions of the Cristero War. Beatified and later canonized by Pope John Paul II along with 24 other saints and martyrs of the Cristero War, he is popularly venerated in Mexico and among Mexican immigrants, particularly for his reported miraculous appearances to migrants seeking to cross the Mexico–United States border.
Life
Toribio was born on April 16, 1900, to farmers Juana González Romo and Patricio Romo Pérez in the ranchería of Santa Ana de Guadalupe, located about {{convert|11|km|mi}} from the municipal seat of Jalostotitlán, Jalisco.[https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://es.catholic.net/op/articulos/53246/toribio-romo-gonzlez-santo.html&prev=search Orozco, Luis Alfonso. "Toribio Romo González, Santo", www.santotoribioromo.com] He had two siblings: a sister, María, and a younger brother, Román, who would also go on to become a priest.
Though initially countered by his parents, in 1912, at age thirteen, he entered the Auxiliary Seminary of San Juan de los Lagos, before transferring to the Major Diocesan Seminary of Guadalajara in 1920. He was created a deacon on September 22, 1922, and ordained a priest a few months later, on December 23, at the age of twenty-two, after being granted a dispensation due to his exceedingly young age. He celebrated his first public mass on January 5, 1923.
Toribio's ministry was characterized by a heavy emphasis on catechesis to the poor, as well as the centrality of the Eucharist to Christian life.[https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20000521_romo-gonzalez_sp.html "Toribio Romo González", Vatican News Service] During his brief priesthood, he served in parishes in the towns of Sayula, Tuxpan, Yahualica and Cuquío, all of them in his native state of Jalisco.
Starting in November 1926, after a revolt in the town of Cuquío against the anti-clerical persecutions of Mexican president Plutarco Elías Calles, he was forced to take up an itinerant lifestyle along with Justino Orona, the parish priest of Cuquío. After relocating almost a dozen times, his final residence was the rural settlement of Agua Caliente, in the outskirts of the town of Tequila, where he was sent to hide and was offered refuge by a local landowner. There, he was joined by his brother and sister, and he continued to secretly carry out his priestly ministry from an abandoned distillery and by visiting parishioners in the town of Tequila by night.
Toribio is a direct male-line descendent of 17th century explorer Diego Romo de Vivar.
Death
On Friday, February 24, 1928, he spent his day organizing the parish registry. Two days before he had sent his brother away to safety. Toribio finished his work in the early hours of February 25 and went to bed. An hour later, government troops arrived and broke into the bedroom where he was sleeping. One of the soldiers reportedly shouted: "Here is the priest, kill him!" He said, "Here I am, but do not kill me."
Another soldier, however, fired, and Toribio rose from his bed and took a few steps before a second bullet caused him to fall into the arms of his sister, who cried in a loud voice: "Courage, Father Toribio...merciful Christ, receive him! Long live Christ the King!"[https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.arquidiocesisdepuebla.mx/index.php/arquidiocesis/santos-y-beatos-mexicanos/santos/266-santo-toribio-romo-gonzalez&prev=search "Santo Toribio Romo Gonzalez", Archdiocese of Puebla]
Veneration
Father Toribio Romo was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 22, 1992, and canonized on May 21, 2000.[http://www.banderasnews.com/0607/nr-migrantssaint.htm Corchado, Alfredo. "The Migrant's Saint: Toribio Romo is a Favorite of Mexicans Crossing the Border", Dallas Morning News, July 2006] His feast day is May 21.
Despite the fact that in 1920, fearing immigrants would lose their values, Father Toribio wrote a play titled "Let's go north!", a comedy that warned migrants against traveling to the States,[https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-immigrants-saint-20140713-story.html Bermudez, Esmeralda. "Faithful flock to see statue of Santo Toribio, the immigrants' saint", Los Angeles Times, July 12, 2014] there is a belief among some Mexicans that Toribio Romo has appeared to some who cross the border to assist them in distress.[http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/my-tio-the-saint/ Romo, David. "My Tío, the Saint", Texas Monthly, November 2010] In the late 1970s migrants began telling stories about St. Toribio coming to their rescue.
The Saint Toribio Romo Fund, which bears his name, supports the work of the immigration services department of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Monterey.[https://catholiccharitiesdom.org/the-saint-toribio-romo-fund/ "The Saint Toribio Romo Fund", Catholic Charities, Diocese of Monterey]
References
{{Reflist}}
=Additional sources=
- Gutierrez, Marco A. Garcia. "Toribio Romo: protector de los mojados: es un espejismo del desierto que hace milagros de carne y hueso." Contenido, June, 2002 {{in lang|es}}
- Murphy, James. The Martyrdom of Saint Toribio Romo. Liguori Publications (November 1, 2007)
- Thompson, Ginger. "[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407E0DD1E3AF937A2575BC0A9649C8B63&scp=1&sq=Santa+Ana+de+Guadalupe+Journal&st=nyt Santa Ana de Guadalupe Journal; A Saint Who Guides Migrants to a Promised Land]." The New York Times, August 14, 2002.
- Sheehan, Thomas. Dictionary of Patron Saints' Names. Our Sunday Visitor (September 2001)
- Chapman, Erica. Trad. oral. 2016
External links
{{commons}}
- [http://www.stspeterandpaul-tulsa.org/ Tulsa Oklahoma Diocesan Shrine:] Diocesan Shrine dedicated to Saint Toribio Romo located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
{{Persecution of Christians}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romo Gonzalez, Toribio}}
Category:20th-century Mexican Roman Catholic priests
Category:Martyred Roman Catholic priests
Category:Mexican Roman Catholic saints
Category:Victims of anti-Catholic violence in Mexico
Category:20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs
Category:20th-century Christian saints
Category:Executed Mexican people