Agustín Caloca Cortés

Agustín Caloca Cortés
martyr
Born	(1898-05-05)May 5, 1898 El Teúl, Zacatecas, Mexico
Died	Colotlán, Jalisco, Mexico
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Canonized	May 21, 2000 by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine	San Juan Bautista del Teúl Parish, Zacatecas, Mexico
Feast	May 21

Agustín Caloca Cortés (May 5, 1898 – May 25, 1927) was one of the martyrs of Mexico during the Cristero War.

Father Caloca Cortés was born in El Teúl, Zacatecas. He served as a minister in the parish of Totatiche and as prefect of the auxiliar seminary established in that town by Cristóbal Magallanes Jara.

In May 1927, he arrived at the seminary to announce that Mexican government soldiers were approaching Totatiche. He ordered the students to abandon the seminary and disperse among the town's population. After helping the students escape, he was taken prisoner and transferred to a jail in Colotlán where he was reunited with Father Magallanes Jara.

He was purportedly offered his freedom by a military officer on account of his young age, but Caloca Cortes refused his freedom unless freedom was also granted to Father Magallanes Jara.

His last words before execution by fire squad were, "We live for God and for Him we die."

He was originally buried in Colotlán but his remains were later exhumed and transferred to the parish of San Juan Bautista in El Teúl.

Sources

Holy See