INTRODUCTION
In each issue as we countdown toward the new millennium, we are bringing you the countdown of the TOP 100 CATHOLICS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY as voted upon by the readers. We will spotlight each of the 100 Top Catholics chosen by readers over a three month period of time earlier this year. We received a total of 23,455 votes nominating 728 candidates for "Top 100 Catholics of the 20th Century" consideration. The top five vote-getters garnered 9,477 with the top ten registering a total 13,470. The Top 100 chosen received 21,603 votes with those 628 candidates not making the list receiving 8% of the vote.
Caliber-wise in the final tally, DAILY CATHOLIC readers made excellent choices and there is a good balance throughout the century list. Eight of the nine Roman Pontiffs of this century made the list except for Pope John Paul I whose pontificate lasted only one month. There are five Saints and six Blesseds as well as seven whose cause for Beatification has been introduced to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The voters selected fifteen cardinals, seven bishops, nineteen priests, seven nuns and two lay brothers. The laity is well represented with four entertainers, four politicians, six renowned secular authors, and numerous dynamic Marian luminaries that have proved their worth through the fruits they have produced by their efforts. Education checks in with several who made the list in all aspects of scholastics including two university presidents and the pro-life movement also has several organizers who made the list as well as well-known leaders of various Catholic non-profit organizations dedicated to upholding the truths of the Church.
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67. Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro
The voters chose as the 67th selection Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, the young Jesuit Mexican priest who was martyred for his faith on November 23, 1927. He follows an interesting pattern this week for Monday we featured human rights activist Dorothy Day, yesterday human rights advocate Archbishop Oscar Romero who was also martyred for his faith and today Blessed Miguel Pro. All three had one thing in common: they sought to reach and minister to the poor.
Miguel was born in the shadow of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe on January 13, 1891 just outside Mexico City. He was the oldest son of Miguel and Josefa Juarez Pro and they chose to call him Miguelito to differentiate him from his father. From an early age he exhibited an innocence mischievousness and humor. But once he went too far with his practical jokes and fell, going into a coma. His parents stood round the clock at his bedside, praying every minute. Finally, he came out of it and asked for some chocolate - "cocol." They were overjoyed. But their prayers did not go for naught for slowly but surely he showed the signs of a vocation. His sister, who he was close to, chose to enter a cloistered convent and this greatly influenced Miguelito's thinking as he began to pray more for guidance. Though he had been very popular in his high school and in demand with the young ladies with the prospect of managing his father's lucrative business after he finished his studies, he realized a greater calling and renounced all ambitions by announcing he would enter the Jesuit Novitiate in 1911 at El Liano in Michoacan, southwest of Mexico City. There he showed a spirituality well beyond his age and it would be needed for in 1914 persecution began in earnest against the Church and especially the clergy. The Novitiate was closed and all priests were forced into hiding. For the rest of his days Miguel would carry out his ministry and priesthood incognito, bringing the sacraments to the faithful under cover for fear of detection and execution. In fact, he would call upon his childhood memories and his favorite snack "cocol" as a code name to assure the people he was a priest.
A year after the Novitiate was shut down, Church authorities were able to smuggle Miguel out of Mexico to send him to Spain so he could continue his studies for the priesthood. First they had to get him safely out. Miguel and his companion novices were first sent to Laredo, Texas then to California before the Provincial sent them to Nicaragua. Soon the way was cleared for Miguel to travel to Spain. After several years studying there he was sent to Belgium where, at the age of 34, he was ordained a priest in the Company of the Society of Jesus. Shortly after ordination he began to get sicker and sicker. Doctors determined it was a stomach ailment and after three operations advised him to rest and remain in Belgium, but he pleaded with his superiors to let him return to his beloved homeland of Mexico.
Father Miguel fully realized his fate by asking for this, but he wanted to be with his people and bring them the Sacraments especially at a time when they were being deprived. Reluctantly he was given permission to go back to Mexico. Once there, he became a master of disguises in sneaking past civil authorities with his Mass utensils and missal hidden in old bags as if he were an unshaven beggar. Though he believed the proverb cleanliness was next to Godliness, he also realized the scruffier and filthier he looked, the less likely the proud soldiers and police would want to search him for they were repulsed by poverty and unsanitary conditions. Father Miguel used these to a science in administering to the poorest of poor. But he also was needed in the more well-to-do sections for rich or poor, a Catholic could not go to a church to attend Mass so all were in need of the sacraments. Here he would dress in a business suit and mimic a high-powered salesman, going right up to the soldiers obnoxiously trying to con them deliberately. It usually worked to perfection as they would shue him away as a bother. This would allow him to go to his destination posing as a salesman who would be admitted when the faithful recognized either a specific flower in his lapel or a certain password. He even was so bold as to go several times into the prisons disguised as a policeman. Once past the guards he would talk quietly with the inmates, hearing their confessions and slip Holy Communion to them. More than a few times he was almost caught. As other accounts regale about his spiritual forays, they were akin to the most classic and dangerous spy novels. He constantly stayed a step ahead of government spies in traversing the "catacombs of Mexico." Wherever he went he was remembered for his gentle manner and strong love for Jesus, Who he constantly proclaimed as "Cristo Rey" - Christ the King. An accomplished humor cartoonist, he would also often show a cartoon as identification. Throughout his short life, he never lost his sense of humor and was often lovingly referred to by the people as "God's beloved jester."
But temporally that jester would be silenced for In November 1927 his disguises mattered little when a car, previously owned by one of Miguel's blood brothers, was seen tossing a bomb toward President Calles' car along Paseo de la Reforma, the main street in busy Mexico City. Needless to say, though they were all innocent, all the Pro brothers were arrested. Miguel was exposed as a priest by a sympathizer of Calles and a disgruntled Catholic. A kangaroo court condemned them to a firing squad. The youngest brother, at the eleventh hour, was granted a reprieve and exiled to the United States. But Miguel and his other brother were not so fortunate and they were both marched into the courtyard on November 23, 1927. When offered the traditional blindfold, Miguel declined. As twelve government rifles took aim at his heart, he stretched his arms out wide proclaiming in a loud, clear voice: "Viva Cristo Rey!" which in English means "Long live Christ the King!" Shots rang out and within seconds Miguel had joined the long list of martyrs. Three years later a campaign for his beatification was begun. He is still awaiting canonization but it is merely a matter of time. He was beatified on September 25, 1988 by Pope John Paul II at the same time Blessed Junipero Serra was named Blessed. The Holy Father set his feast day as November 23, the day of his death. With Blessed Miguel Pro's undying devotion to "Cristo Rey" it is fitting that he is honored so close to the Solemnity of Christ the King.
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