Because of the
anticlerical laws due to the Mexican Constitution of 1917 and the
Mexican Revolution, the Catholic Church was increasingly suppressed by the governments of Presidents
Alvaro Obregon and
Plutarco Calles. Involvement in politics, freedom of worship and redress of grievances were severely curtailed and even denied to
bishops,
priests,
deacons and Catholic
laity. Even prior to the end of the revolution, from 1914 to 1918, those aspiring to be priests found it impossible to study in Mexico, and studied abroad, usually in the United States, mostly in cities close to the U.S.-Mexican border.
El Paso was especially popular because of its closeness to Mexico. During these years many
seminarians from northern Mexico studied in El Paso, and were
ordained to the priesthood there. One such was
Peter of Jesus Maldonado, who was ordained by Bishop Anthony J Schuler,
S.J., in the cathedral on January 25, 1918. Padre Maldonado returned to his native Chihuahua; he was beaten to death in 1937 at the hands of town authorities in Santa Isabel (at that time named General Trias), Chihuahua, for preaching the
Gospel and teaching the catechism to the people there. He was buried in the
Cathedral of Chihuahua, and
canonised by
Pope John Paul II on May 21, 2000, as one of the companions of
St Christopher Magallanes. A memorial in the
nave of St. Patrick commemorates the event of his ordination. ==Photo Gallery I - The Windows==