15,000 faithful and pope’s representative commemorate centenary of 4 Mexican martyrs

Around 15,000 faithful gathered on Saturday, Aug. 15, at the Holy Places of Chalchihuites in the Mexican state of Zacatecas to commemorate the centenary of four martyrs killed during the Cristero War.

Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, apostolic nuncio to Mexico and representative of Pope Leo XIV in the country, presided over the celebration that concluded the centenary jubilee year.

The Archdiocese of Durango shared images of the crowd gathered at the site where Sts. Luis Bátis Sáinz, Manuel Morales, Salvador Lara Puente, and David Roldán Lara were killed.

The four martyrs were shot to death on Aug. 15, 1926, at Puerto de Santa Teresa, a town located in the state of Zacatecas and under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Durango.

Thousands of the faithful attend the Mass marking the centenary of the martyrdom of four Mexican saints on Aug. 15, 2026, at Puerto de Santa Teresa, Zacatecas. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Rafael López

‘God does not die’ “God does not die,” Spiteri said at the beginning of his homily, echoing the words spoken by St. Manuel Morales before his execution.

The nuncio recalled that the four martyrs “offered their lives while…