Mexico City, Mexico, Mar 11, 2016 / 05:56 am
The last known surviving soldier of the Cristero War, Juan Daniel Macías Villegas, died last month in his home town of San Julián, Mexico. He was 103 years old.
Mexican photojournalist Alejandro Moreno Merino told CNA that the funeral rites for Macías took place at San José church, with his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren in attendance.
The attendees walked in procession almost two miles to the cemetery next to the "Cristero National Guard," a Catholic organization that seeks to preserve the memory of the martyrs who died during the religious persecution in Mexico in the early 20th century.
Mexico's Cristero War was sparked by anti-clerical legislation being passed by the Mexican President Elías Calles in 1926.