Pedro de Jesús Maldonado

Pedro de Jesús Maldonado Lucero (June 15, 1892 – February 11, 1937) was a Mexican diocesan priest who became the first canonized saint and martyr from Chihuahua City, Mexico.

Early life Pedro de Jesús Maldonado was born in a neighborhood of Chihuahua City known as San Nicolás and was one of seven children of Apolinar Maldonado and Micaela Lucero. When he was 17 years old, he entered the diocesan seminary, where he was known for his piety; once, after completing the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, he told the rector of the seminary "I have thought of always having my heart in heaven and in the Tabernacle."

In 1914 the seminary was shut down due to the revolution and many seminarians fled to El Paso, Texas, but Maldonado remained in Chihuahua and studied music. Later, he continued his religious studies in El Paso. He was ordained a priest on January 25, 1918 in the Cathedral of St. Patrick for the Archdiocese of Chihuahua, Mexico by Bishop Anthony Joseph Schuler, S.J, Bishop of El Paso.

Priesthood

Although Maldonado celebrated his first Masses in El Paso, his first Solemn Mass was in the Church of the Holy Family in Chihuahua on February 11, 1918. Maldonado was assigned to San Nicolás de Carretas but was eventually returned to Boquilla del Río, not far from Santa Isabel. He continued to carry out his ministry in Santa Isabel until his death.

Death On February 10, 1937 (Ash Wednesday), a group of drunken armed men discovered his location at a nearby ranch. Maldonado was brought barefoot to the town hall, where he was pistol-whipped, fracturing his skull and dislodging his left eye from its socket. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on May 25, 2000.

Relics The relics of Pedro de Jesús Maldonado are found in a wooden urn in the Chapel of the Lord of Mapimí in the Cathedral of Chihuahua. There is a traveling urn that contains some of his bodily remains, and this reliquary visits the parishes throughout the diocese. In the parish of Santa Isabel is kept the confessional used by the saint. In 2018 on the 100th anniversary of his ordination a relic was presented to the El Paso Diocese from the Diocese of Chihuahua. The wooden urn holding the relic was placed at Saint Patrick Cathedral in El Paso, Texas. A memorial in the nave of St. Patrick's commemorates his ordination there.

Patronage Saint Peter of Jesus Maldonado is a patron of the Archdiocese of Chihuahua and of the Diocese of El Paso. As part of the twenty-five martyrs designated "Cristóbal Magallanes Jara and companions", he is commemorated on May 21. He is among the six priests of that group who were also members of the Knights of Columbus, and is considered a patron of that organization. His individual feast day is February 11, the day of his death.