Mexican Religious War
I grew up in Guatemala, neighbor to México, and was stunned to find out México had a sordid past with the Roman Catholic Church. Guatemalans don’t tend to want to study Mexican history. Plus, I grew up Pentecostal which also didn’t lend to a lot of interest in persecution of Roman Catholics. What surprised me was that the conflict between the Mexican government and the Catholic Church was not only oppression of religious freedoms, it led to bloodshed, a revolution of sorts called the Cristero War or Cristiada.
Nowadays, the Catholic Church is as inculcated into the Mexican culture as quinceañeras and mariachi bands. However, back in the 1920’s it was a very different environment. Influenced by socialists, many avowedly atheist, the Mexican Constitution of 1917 was ratified. Several key articles of the Constitution set up the conflict between the State and religious freedoms, specifically targeting the Catholic Church. This series by Jim Tuck of MexConnect illustrates the origins of the conflict:
Article 3 called for secular education in the schools; Article 5 outlawed monastic orders; Article 24 forbade public worship outside the confines of churches; and Article 27 placed restrictions on the right of religious organizations to hold property. Most obnoxious to Catholics was Article 130, which deprived clergy members of basic rights and made them in effect second-class citizens. Priests and nuns were denied the right to wear clerical attire, to vote, to criticize government officials or to comment on public affairs in religious periodicals.
Alright, I feel I need to make a public confession. I just found out about the Cristero War through a movie trailer. Yes, a movie trailer. The movie is Cristiada, currently in production, starring Andy García, Eva Longoria, Peter O’Toole, and Eduardo Verástegui. And it’s that last actor’s name which brought me to the movie.
Ever since seeing and loving the movie Bella, I’ve been a Verástegui fan. Ya’ll can go ahead a start mocking now. But the man is too interesting not to gawk at on the internet. I have had the opportunity to meet him in person 3 different times, but have turned down each event because I knew that if I met him in person, I’d end up swallowing my tongue or my inner 12-year-old would show up just like it did when I met Dean Koontz. Either prospect is extremely embarrassing. So, I stalk and gawk from afar, internet afar.
However, I am quite excited by the prospect of the film Cristiada. Not only is it flush with interesting actors (yes, I’m looking forward to the Verástegui scenes), it illustrates the lengths socialists and a-religionists have gone to in expelling expressions of faith from the public forum and society. When a socialist like our President Obama speaks to his fellow leftist cronies about those people of faith who bitterly cling to their guns and Bibles, it serves us well to look back on real life examples of socialists who tried to take away the faith of the governed.
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Oct '10
Re: Mexican Religious War
Excellent post, Felicia! The Cristero War is a part of Mexican history that's rarely referenced or spoken of nowadays. Much of the dreadful Article 130 of the Mexican Constitution was still in effect when I lived on the border nearly twenty years ago. Even as late as the early '90s Catholic religious were forbidden to wear clerical garb in Mexico. The anticlerical laws were partially reformed in 1992, but there are still substantial restrictions on religious freedom in Mexico. That's just one of many reasons why I have so little respect for that country.
Mar '11
Re: Mexican Religious War
¡Viva Cristo Rey!
Feb '11
Re: Mexican Religious War
Felicia I had a great granduncle who according to family lore was a "Cristero", was found guilty for his rebellion and died by firing squad. It is said that he refused to be blindfolded for his execution. Although I was not raised Catholic I found it odd that this episode even existed in Mexican history given how devoutly Catholic the country was back in the day. However I later learned that one has to take into context the emnity between the Mexican govt and the Catholic Church. It all began when Benito Juarez instituted constitutional reforms back in the 1860's. The Church was one the wealthiest land owning entities aside of the "hacendados" i.e. oligarchal land owners. The wealth gave the Church a powerful foothold in domestic politics and culture, the reformers wanted to weaken its hold. In many ways the reformers were trying to impose a seperation of church and state although they were ham fisted in their efforts. To this day Mexican evangelical christians are suspicious of the Catholic Church because local parishes have been to known to try to run their Protestant counterparts out of town in various localities.
Edited on Jul 28, 2011 at 3:51pmApr '11
Re: Mexican Religious War
As a side note, Andy Garcia's The Lost City is a jewel of a film.
Jun '10
Re: Mexican Religious War
If you want to read a great novel about the Mexican war against Catholics, read Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory, a truly great novel about an alcoholic priest on the run from the police.
Jan '11
Re: Mexican Religious War
Color me uninformed! How very interesting. Thanks for the post. There are reasons why things are so different on other sides of a border, and I'd never heard of this.
Jan '11
Re: Mexican Religious War
I forgot to throw some gas on this fire - I also think that its no accident the nations, economies & cultures that developed in the new world in both North & South America are linked to the Catholic and Protestant colonizations respectively.
Let the bickering commence.
Mar '11
Re: Mexican Religious War
I had no idea this ever happened. Gee, why wouldn't educators want people to know about this, eh? Yeah, that was sarcasm. It shouldn't surprise me. After all, we're taught that the Spanish Civil War was good guys (Republicans) vs. bad guys (Nationalists), and that the forces of light backed the Republicans... the Americans sent a Lincoln Brigade! ... and that the forces of evil backed the Nationalists.
Very little is mentioned at all about the Republicans being armed and bankrolled by the Soviet Union, or that the "Lincoln Brigade" was composed of communists and socialists, or that the Republican forces were sacking churches, murdering priests, and raping nuns. Further, you never heard that Franco's forces were defending the church. I had never seen the now-iconic pic of the Republicans shooting at a statue of Jesus until the Internet came along. Again, gee, why wouldn't our teachers want us to know this stuff? Hmmm.
Thank you for posting this. I'm going to see this movie.
Edited on Jul 28, 2011 at 5:35pmRe: Mexican Religious War
Great post--the vicious persecution of Catholics in Mexico after the Revolution is, sadly, generally not studied in America.
The Catholic counter-rebellion in the Vendee region of France after the French Revolution began is also ignored.
I look forward to the movie.
Dec '10
Re: Mexican Religious War
You are a hoot, Felicia!
What does it say about me that I did the same when meeting Fr. Sirico of the Acton Institute?! I mean, while Fr. Sirico is a moral and intellectual paragon, I think even he'd admit he's not exactly a movie star hunk. I'm a sad sad little woman.
Re: Mexican Religious War
Miguel Pro. The first Catholic martydom to be photographed. He is routinely venerated at my parish.
I am also a big Verastegui fan. I was able to interview him on my morning show for Bella. I should have video taped it, but I was trying to be respectful. I put it on youtube anyway. Enjoy:
May '10
Re: Mexican Religious War
I was unaware of this history until I met the Legionaries, a recently-founded Catholic order of priests and monks which began in Mexico. The founding priest turned out to be a scoundrel, which has colored the reputation of the entire order; but I have been impressed by the many Legionaries I have met.
What makes the Legion of Christ remarkable is their commitment to publicly expressing their faith. A key goal of the order is to secure for Christianity representation in the media and popular culture. Some of you might recognize Father Jonathan Morris from his appearances as a commentator on Fox News. Anyway, the order emerged precisely because of the oppression in Mexico.
I'm currently reading Jonah's Liberal Fascism. Socialist / fascist governments always try to either destroy or co-opt the Church because they want people to worship the state. It's a tale as old as history. The Egyptian and Roman empires also tried to make government into a religion for citizens.
Dec '10
Re: Mexican Religious War
Kowaliczko Tom: I forgot to throw some gas on this fire - I also think that its no accident the nations, economies & cultures that developed in the new world in both North & South America are linked to the Catholic and Protestant colonizations respectively.
Let the bickering commence. · Jul 28 at 4:24pm
One was the Old World’s old world order; the other, the Old World’s new world order.
Jul '10
Re: Mexican Religious War
The miraculous success of America because of Her revolution is, sadly, generally not studied in Mexico.
May '10
Re: Mexican Religious War
Sorry, Felicia! What I meant to say is... thanks! I'll keep an eye out for this one.
Nov '10
Re: Mexican Religious War
I'll second this. This book reminds me of many accounts I've read of persecution under the Nazis and under Communism, and it is horrifying to realize that this kind of thing went on right here in North America and yet has been largely forgotten. Thanks for the post FeliciaB!
Oct '10
Re: Mexican Religious War
I came here to say the same thing, and to add: Mr. Garcia is in it? Then I want to see it, preferably at its Los Angeles premiere, and would hope to meet Mr. Garcia and shake his hand and thank him for "The Lost City."
How about it, Los Angelan Ricocheters? Is there going to be a screening here, and can we put together a group to go?
Edited on Jul 28, 2011 at 6:58pmFeb '11
Re: Mexican Religious War
I too found this an excellent novel. Three details
1) Obregon, the winner of the War of the Successors after the 1914 overthrow of General Huerta, was elected to a second term as President in 1928, but was assassinated before he took office by a Catholic man angry about the ant-Church policies of the revolution.
2) Traveling in the Yucatan, one finds the outer walls or churches ruined by the Maya in the War or the Castes, circa 1847-1851.
3) The French intervention in Mexico in 1863 was promoted by the Catholic Church.
Jun '10
Re: Mexican Religious War
The Communists and the Christians have the same First Commandment: You shall have no other gods before me. And if you're in a communist country, and you don't know who "god" is currently, just look up at the murals on the sides of the buildings. They'll tell you.
Aug '10
Re: Mexican Religious War
Very cool Felicia-
I have been a "dust of Mexico on your shoes..." for a long time.
I think this is the most interesting thread I have seen on the Rico yet.
You need to tell us what is going on the border with los narcos and the Guatemelan army.
Lots of trails I have to discover now . gracias a todos .
y tambien, when do we get to go back ? my wife is too scared and our twice annual trips have ceased.