Lexington Books
Pages: 220
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-4985-0425-6 • Hardback • May 2016 • $115.00 • (£88.00)
978-1-4985-0426-3 • eBook • May 2016 • $109.00 • (£84.00)
Marisol López-Menéndez is professor in social and political sciences at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.
Introduction
Chapter One: The Social Identities of a Martyr
Chapter Two: The Priestly Martyrdom
Chapter Three: Martyrdom, Nationalism, and National Belonging
Chapter Four: Law and Martyrdom
Chapter Five: The Clash of Corporate Bodies
Chapter Six: The Gesture and the Body
Chapter Seven: Longing Martyrdom
Conclusion
Lopez-Menendez masterfully constructs the Pro-as-martyr narrative.... Perhaps the most notable strength of this scholarly work is the contextualization the author establishes in the debate about the martyrdom of Father Pro.... Lopez-Menendez’s Miguel Pro is an engagingly written, carefully researched, and impressively diverse examination of the making of a martyr. It makes a major contribution to the fields of religious studies, sociology, and Mexican history and politics in the twentieth century. It will surely be established as a significant synthetic text and find its way into many scholarly libraries.
— Catholic Historical Review
López-Menéndez produces an insightful exploration that uses a compelling Mexican case to examine the ways that martyrs are made in the modern age.
— Journal of Church and State
This is by far the most conceptually sophisticated and detailed treatment to date of the martyrological meanings and political legacies of Mexico’s best-known beato, Father Miguel Pro. Combining elements of history, critical theory, and religious studies, and blending conventional archival sources with deft analysis of theatrical plays, political reportage, and telenovelas, this is a fresh and insightful study that brings the study of Mexico’s cristero martyrs up to date. Here is the post-modern Pro, neither historical nor canonical fact, but open-ended symbol, martyred anew with every significant convulsion of Mexico’s religious and political fields.
— Matthew J. Butler, University of Texas at Austin
This book is a thoughtful meditation on the tensions between the religious and the political spheres, the function of the Catholic priest, and the gradual process of creating a Catholic saint. López-Menéndez focuses on the death of Father Pro, executed by government forces during Mexico’s Cristero War. This work is not only meticulously researched and carefully laid out, it also speaks to the important issues of popular religious belief, state-church relations, and the role of martyrdom in Catholic theology. Powerful and learned, Miguel Pro stands as one of the best works on Mexican religion.
— Benjamin Smith, University of Warwick