Mexico commemorates 500th anniversary of Child Martyrs

The Diocese of Tlaxcala in Mexico began celebrations marking the 500th anniversary of the martyrdom of Sts. Cristóbal, Antonio, and Juan, known as the Child Martyrs of Tlaxcala, considered the protomartyrs of the Americas, with a reminder that their blood “opened the way for the faith on the continent.”

On Sept. 23, the date of their liturgical memorial, the Diocese of Tlaxcala inaugurated the Jubilee of Holiness and Mission with a Mass. The jubilee will conclude on Sept. 23, 2027.

Cristóbal died a martyr in 1527, at around the age of 12, after his own father punished him for destroying idols. Antonio and Juan gave their lives two years later in 1529 while participating in an evangelization mission.

They were beatified on May 6, 1990, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City and canonized by Pope Francis on Oct. 15, 2017, in St. Peterʼs Square at the Vatican.

‘They didn’t wait until they were adults’ to evangelize

In his homily for the Mass on Sept. 23, Bishop Julio César Salcedo Aquino of Tlaxcala highlighted that the celebration seeks to highlight the testimony of the three young martyrs as an example of holiness and renew “missionary zeal.”

The prelate pointed out that Cristóbal, Antonio, and Juan, even as children, “embodied to the letter the words of Christ.”

“God’s protection does not mean an absence of physical hardships or persecution” but rather the grace to “persevere in the faith,” he noted.

In this regard, Salcedo recalled that Cristóbal “did not fear threats from his own family,” while Antonio and Juan “maintained the joy of the mission despite knowing the danger they were in.”

“The protomartyrs of the Americas did not wait until they were adults or had some official title to become evangelizers,” he stated. Educated by Franciscan friars, he added, “they became the first catechists of their people [and thus] shared their experience of faith.”

The bishop pointed out that this commitment to evangelization ultimately led them to lay down their lives. “They were beaten with clubs and burned for bearing witness to the truth of the Gospel.” That they willingly shed their blood for Christ “was a very moving example to the Indigenous communities and opened the way for the faith on the continent,” he added.

Salcedo pointed out that “children, adolescents, and young people exposed to so many secularist ideologies need models of piety and of apostolic and missionary generosity rooted in Gospel values.”

The Apostolic Penitentiary granted a plenary indulgence for the jubilee year at the Shrine of the Child Martyrs in the town of Atlihuetzia.

To obtain it, the faithful must fulfill the usual conditions: confession, Communion, prayer for the pope’s intentions, and detachment from all sin, even venial sin.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.