On February 25, Catholics will celebrate the anniversary of the martyring of Saint Toribio Romo Gonzalez, a time of special significance for many Mexicans with ties to the United States.
Romo, born in the tiny town of Santa Ana de Guadalupe, Jalisco in 1900, was an ordained priest murdered by Mexican soldiers during the 1926-1929 Cristero War and later canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000.
But the young martyr is more revered today for his post-mortem deeds. A mysterious figure, dressed in the black robes of clergy, is said to have helped hundreds of Mexicans find their way across the border into the United States since the 1970s, sometimes giving them a ride in his pickup truck and leaving them with a little cash to get them started. When the beneficiaries try to give thanks, he always tells them to go to the town of Santa Ana de Guadalupe in Jalisco and ask for Toribio Romo. And there, every year as the legend grows, Mexicans intent on making their own perilous border crossing flock to pray for a safe voyage and guidance in the dangerous undertaking.
Thus, Romo has become known as the patron saint of undocumented aliens, earning the nicknames El Santo Pollero and El Santo Coyote, colloquialisms for immigrant smugglers. In Chicago, the Jalisco Federation of the Midwest (Fedejal) is celebrating a special mass in honor of the saint’s untimely death.And, in addition to his altar in the Templo de la Mesita in Santa Ana de Guadalupe, there is a church dedicated to him in Tijuana and shrines in the city of Mexicali, Agua Caliente ranch outside of Tequila (where he was slain) and Tulsa, Oklahoma. A relic of his is even floating around Turkey.
Most parishes observing the day will hold a special mass, a holy hour, or some other low-key form of reverence.
St. Toribio’s main shrine in the little church atop the town in which he was born receives several thousand visitors each year. However, with undocumented crossings on the decline over the last few years, it’s possible that Romo’s portrait above the alter will be able to steal a moment for itself.