The following comes from a March 11 Catholic News Agency article by Diego Lopez Marina:

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.

The persecution became so fierce that thousands of Catholics began to forcibly resist, fighting under the slogan and banner of “Cristo Rey” (Christ the King).

Macías was among those who fought the persecution. When he was 13 years old, he started to fight with the “Cristeros” under the famed General Victoriano Ramírez and was part of his squadron called “the Dragons of El Catorce.” He took part in various campaigns in the Jalisco and Guanajuato highlands area, and in the second Cristero campaign (1935-1937) under the command of Lauro Rocha.hlands area, and in the second Cristero campaign (1935-1937) under the command of Lauro Rocha.