Correa Magallanes, Mateo, St.
CORREA MAGALLANES, MATEO, ST.
Martyr, pastor; b. July 22 or 23, 1866, Tepechitlán, Zacatecas, Diocese of Zacatecas, Mexico; d. Feb. 6, 1927, Durango, Jalisco, Diocese of Zacatecas. Fr. Correa was ministering in the parish at Valparaíso, Zacatecas, during the persecution, where he administered First Communion to another future martyr, (Bl.) Miguel Agustin pro. Correa faithfully executed his sacerdotal duties, including evangelizing and serving the poor. He was continually harassed by the authorities, arrested and released. The last time he was administering the last rites. He was detained for several days at Fresnillo, Zacatecas, then taken to Durango. There General Eulogio Ortiz asked him to hear the confessions of some prisoners. Later he asked the priest to reveal the content of those confessions or be killed. When he refused, he was martyred outside Durango, where his relics are enshrined in the cathedral in the Chapel of Saint George the Martyr. He was both beatified (Nov. 22, 1992) and canonized (May 21, 2000) with Cristobal magallanes [see mexico, martyrs of, ss.] by Pope John Paul II.
Feast: May 25 (Mexico).
Bibliography: j. cardoso, Los mártires mexicanos (Mexico City 1953). j. dÍaz estrella, El movimiento cristero: sociedad y conflicto en los Altos de Jalisco (México, D.F. 1979). v. garcÍa juÁrez, Los cristeros (Fresnillo, Zac. 1990).
[k. i. rabenstein]