Mexico is a nation with a very strong Catholic identity, yet for over 70 years during the 20th century the Catholic Church was actually outlawed: not allowed to own property, run schools, convents or monasteries, have more than a certain number of priests (and no foreign priests), nor defend itself publicly or in the courts. It was hardly allowed to exist. According to historian Jim Tuck, “This was not separation of church and state: it was complete subordination of church to state”.
Following 1940, enforcement of these restrictions gradually lessened, but it was not until 1992 that the Church was restored as a legal entity in Mexico. During the period of the strictest enforcement of these draconian laws beginning with the rule of President Calles in the late 1920s, Mexicans were often imprisoned for wearing religious items, saying “Adios” in public (which literally means “with God”), or even questioning the laws. Public worship was a crime punishable by hanging or firing squad. (In fact, this week – May 21 – was the feast day of 25 Mexican saints and martyrs who remained true to their faith during these turbulent years and were canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000. Another 13 martyrs were canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, including young José Luis Sánchez del Río. Perhaps the most well-known modern Mexican martyr, however, is Blessed Fr. Miguel Pro, beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988.)
For a nation that was 95% Catholic, this was a crisis of unimaginable proportions. Yet modern Mexico – and the world – has largely forgotten the suffering that took place in the years 1926-1929. Known as the Cristero War or Cristero Rebellion (La Cristiada in Spanish), this period was, according to historian Donald Mabry, “a virulent anticlericalism [attack on the Church] that has seldom been surpassed in any other country”. With such a severe restriction of their liberties, the Mexican people were forced to react. After a decree that required the registration of priests and the confiscation of church property, the Catholic bishops of Mexico made the decision to close the churches and go underground. It was during this time that armed rebellion first broke out against the government. “Mexico rose in arms to shouts of ‘Viva Cristo Rey!'” writes historian Jürgen Buchenau. “Thus began the Cristero Rebellion, which eventually grew to 50,000 soldiers, or a force almost as large as the federal army.”
The story of the Cristero soldiers and their fight for liberty is told dramatically in a new movie to be released in theaters in the U.S. on June 1st. For Greater Glory tells the largely forgotten tale of this painful time in recent Mexican history. The movie is the first major motion picture for director Pablo José Barroso, a businessman turned director of faith-based films. According to Barroso, “This is not only another Hollywood movie; it’s a movie of standing up for what you believe; it’s a… spiritual journey.” The film seeks to recreate interest in this terrible period in Mexican history, which is surprisingly little known even in Mexico (where the film debuted in April as Cristiada). Barroso hopes that through this movie he will be able to accurately depict the violence that Mexican Catholics suffered (the movie is rated R for war violence and disturbing images).
The impact of the Cristero War was felt not only throughout Mexico, but also in the United States, as waves of Mexican immigrants sought to escape the violence of their homeland. The exodus from Mexico’s west-central region was particularly great. Historian Julia Young writes in the Catholic Historical Review, “Of all the causes for the marked rise in emigration out of Mexico’s west-central states during the 1920s, it was the devastation wrought by the Cristero War that reinforced and solidified these trends during the latter part of the decade.” In the year 1928, for example, the Mexican government targeted this region with a campaign aimed to evacuate residents, then pillage and bomb their towns. Eyewitness Luis Gonzalez y Gonzalez describes the aftermath of such an attack against the town of San Jose de Gracia in Michoacan: “a place of roofless walls and rubble, ashes, and charcoal, with green grass sprouting in the street and on garden walls, and soot everywhere. The only sound was the howling of starving cats.” After this type of devastation, many smaller villages never recovered and remain ghost towns today.
With access to Mexico’s new railway infrastructure, Mexican citizens left their war-torn country in droves. They not only settled in the previously traditional migrant areas of southern California, Texas and the rest of the southwest, but also began to make their way to other parts of the U.S. that had previously had few Mexican immigrants: the midwest, for example.
If you have Catholic ancestors who lived in or emigrated from Mexico during the Cristero period and would like to learn more, it is difficult to find much information on the internet. However, these links may help to give you a basic understanding of this largely unknown period in Mexican history, help you learn more about its impact on your family, and get you started tracing your Mexican family tree.
About the Cristero War – Online Reading
- Viva Cristo Rey! The Cristeros Versus the Mexican Revolution by Christopher Check provides a good overview of the Cristero Rebellion
- Video interviews with Cristero and Mexican soldiers about their experiences during the Cristero War
- Pope’s Mexico trip a chance to explore church-state conflict, a March 2012 USA Today article about the recent Papal visit to Mexico and its role in refocusing discussion on the Cristero War
- Iniquis Afflictisque, Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on the Persecution of the Church in Mexico, November 1926
- A five-part series of articles giving an overview of Mexican history by Chris Stewart beginning with Part I: The Long Conflict of Church and State
About the Cristero War – Books
- The Cristero Rebellion: The Mexican People Between Church and State 1926-1929 (Cambridge Latin American Studies) by Jean Meyer – This historian’s in depth research into the Cristero period spanned seven years as he traveled throughout Mexico unearthing previously unknown records at archives and Catholic churches.
- La Cristiada: The Mexican Government’s Persecution of the Church (An Illustrated History of the Mexican Cristero War from 1926-1929) also by Jean Meyer
- Mexican Martyrdom by Rev. Wildrid Parsons – Written in 1935, this book provides a vivid picture of the trials of Mexican Catholics during the 1920s.
- Blessed Miguel Pro: 20th Century Mexican Martyr by Ann Ball – The inspiring story of the famous Mexican priest, martyred in 1927.
About the movie, “For Greater Glory”
- For Greater Glory – official website for the movie
- Freedom is Our Lives – a Knights of Columbus article about the movie
- For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada, the Cristero War and Mexico’s Struggle for Religious Freedomby Ruben Quezada, published by Ignatius Press
In search of your Mexican family history
- Visit the Family Search website to search for your family in Mexico’s 1930 Census and gain access to additional resources on Mexican genealogy
- Read Finding Your Roots in México by John P. Schmal at the Somos Primos website
~
A very special thank-you to two high school students whose research into 1920s Mexico was a big help to me in preparing this article. Their historical exhibit received honors within this year’s National History Day competition.
LifeTravelMex said:
Great post! I saw that movie a couple of weeks ago which I can recommend a lot!
Greetings from Cancun
ProfEmeritus said:
Thank you. I knew something about this, but oh so little. And, gosh, a former Pittsburgher and partial Croatian.
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standup2p said:
Reblogged this on standup2p and commented:
Wow who knew “yet for over 70 years during the 20th century the Catholic Church was actually outlawed: not allowed to own property, run schools, convents or monasteries, have more than a certain number of priests (and no foreign priests), nor defend itself publicly or in the court”. All of my fellow Catholics who think they’ve been white for 2,000 Years should read this.
Bobby said:
I would like to know if Mexico allows Catholic priests to were their priestly garb in public
Lisa / Smallest Leaf said:
Thanks for your question, Bobby. I haven’t yet been able to find a solid answer for you. Anthony Gill writes in his article “The Politics of Regulating Religion in Mexico” (Journal of Church and State, http://jcs.oxfordjournals.org/content/41/4/761.extract): “In 1992 the Mexican national legislature approved changes to the 1917 Constitution and effectively reversed over a century of officially sanctioned hostility to religious organizations. Six months later, the federal government released ‘La Ley de Asociaciones Religiosas y Culto Publico’ – or ‘Ley Reglamentaria’ – a detailed set of legal statutes that form the basis of contemporary church-state relations.”
I have not found a specific mention within the changes to the Constitution (http://www.juridicas.unam.mx/infjur/leg/constmex/pdf/rc121.pdf) regarding the wearing of religious attire. I have not checked ‘Ley Reglamentaria’. Is it possible that there has not yet been an official change regarding Catholic priests and religious dressing as such in public?
Anyone with more information that would like to weigh in on this topic, please do!
Lisa / Smallest Leaf said:
See Chris Stewart’s comment below for more information on this topic.
Deborah said:
Thanks for posting this article. My daughter and I saw For a Greater Glory this evening. My grandparents left Guanaguato in 1928, they never really said “why”, just that they wanted a better life. I noticed that Guanaguato is immediately adjacent to Michoacan where a lot of the violence was happening. It was noticed in the family that they never talked much about life before the US. They settled in the midwest.
Now, thanks to this information, I think I can better understand why they left Mexico, though they traded one form of persecution for another (color/culture prejudice). Yet I think the instinct for survival still spurs us on to endure and hope for a better life. They worked hard, and my gratitude runs deep for them. I feel like I have received a great legacy now knowing about the Cristero Wars and how my grandparents responded, it feels like we are closing a circle reaching across time to touch one another.
Lisa / Smallest Leaf said:
Thanks very much for taking the time to comment, Deborah. I’m sure that there are many other families of Mexican immigrants who have never heard this incredible story. The stories of the past are so easily lost to us after a few generations, but in the case of the Cristero War period it is unbelievable how little is known only one generation later.
It is my hope that this movie and articles like mine will help to share this story with the descendants of Mexicans who lived through this horrific period of trial only decades ago.
I love your words: “…it feels like we are closing a circle reaching across time to touch one another.” You have described beautifully the reason why I (and many others) love seeking out these stories of our past and passing them down to the next generation.
Chris Stewart said:
When I was living in Mexico City in 1992-1994, I can remember nuns wearing religious garb in public. Priests probably did also. This roughly coincided with the 1992 changes to the 1917 Constitution. However, I rather suspect that the public wearing of religious garb was fairly common even prior to 1992 (my wife confirms this; more below). The reason is a highly pragmatic approach to modus vivendi that is built into just about every culture on earth that has not been infected with Calvinism, like our United States have been. Calvinism requires conformity to written law and cultural norms, and Calvinist cultures tend actively to pursue the imposition of such conformity even when it makes no sense — and here is the rub — even outside the religious sphere in which Calvinism originated. This is why, for example, there is such hysteria in the popular press when someone (like Rick Santorum) actively promotes pro-life culture to the extent of criticizing contraception. The response (predictable, if you ask me) was to conflate approval of large families and Natural Family Planning with the thought of making contraception illegal. Illegalizing contraception was never on anyone’s mind, but that was the rhetoric that was marched out in response to Santorum’s politics. It is pure Calvinism, in a secular context. Our drug wars and near-worship of public school systems also come to mind as examples of Calvinism in secular American culture. Another example is the determined pursuit of eradicating all Christian symbols and Christian prayer from public buildings and public ceremonies in the United States. Cultural Calvinism cannot stand for an accommodation that lives and lets live. Instead, it must eradicate the enemy, e.g. Christian prayer and Christian symbols in the public sphere, and replace it with the norm embraced by the Calvinists. This is exactly what Calvinism did to Catholic Christianity in those parts of Europe where it held sway. In essence, Calvinism in history has required eradication and replacement, and it is a particularly potent force in American secular culture today.
Not so in Mexico. In many ways, Mexican culture is far more pragmatic than American culture, because for the most part, Mexican culture and law have allowed for numerous modi vivendi to allow for the expression of cultural forces that go against legal norms. This is exactly what happened between 1917 and 1926. From 1917-1920 or so, the Revolution was still in full force. Everyone was being killed, for any reason imaginable and even for no reason whatsoever, but despite the official sanction of anti-catholicism in the Constitution, there was no active persecution of Catholics. Though Catholics certainly did die violently, this happened to everybody because the Revolution was still in its violent phase. In 1920, the violence began to die down; overall a lot fewer people died, though skirmishes still broke out here and there — and it is conceivable that Catholics and non-Catholics went at it. After all, in these years, one difference of opinion was as good as any when it came to picking a fight.
All this changed with the Ley Calles in 1926, which sought to enforce the constitutional provisions against priests and religious especially. What Calles did that was completely out of step with hundreds of years of Mexican history was to require conformity, especially in some of the most Catholic areas of Mexico. And he enforced this conformity with summary justice that included the summary execution of priests and even of laity. Calles was not a Calvinist, however. He was a typical Mexican caudillo in pursuit of absolute power — and he held such power throughout much of Mexico, even after the formal end of his presidency. The period from 1929-1934 is known as the Maximato because Calles continued to rule through a brief succession of puppet presidents. In fact, about the only two things that changed in 1929 with the Cristero cease-fire were the re-opening of religious services and the end of (most) summary executions for religious reasons. People still suffered from a more low-scale persecution of the Church until Lazaro Cardenas became president in 1934.
Now, I share none of the adulation for Cardenas that is common in Mexico. From my perspective, Cardenas was a cabron of the very first category. But the Mexican people loved him, and he had enough respect for the Mexican people to begin rolling back nearly all of the official anti-Catholic persecutions. None of this included any changes in legal framework or Constitution. Cardenas was simply a personality of sufficient force to push back against all the excesses of the Calles years. He was a hero of the Mexican Revolution who actually worked his way up and fought on the front lines. Calles certainly fought — everyone did — but Calles was a figure very much in the shadow of Alvaro Obregon during the years of the Revolution. Where Obregon was hands on — even to the extent of doing the dirty work where he thought it necessary — Calles was, shall we say, less so. In contrast, Cardenas was an officer by the time he was a teenager, and a general by the age of 25 or so. By the time he became president, he saw that the anti-Catholic persecutions were simply a waste of time and energy. So he ended them. And officially, the modus vivendi (which Pope Pius XI writes about in Acerba Animi, http://tinyurl.com/764unua ) could begin.
So it would largely remain until 1992. My wife is Mexican and grew up there. She tells me it was common for priests and nuns to wear their religious garb in public. It was technically against the law, but no one cared. This is Mexican pragmatism at its best.
Indeed, it wasn’t until this year that the Mexican Senate finally approved a change to article 24 of the 1917 Constitution, guaranteeing religious freedom throughout the country. A Google search is perhaps the best way to pluck out the pertinent articles: http://tinyurl.com/8xdv4mx
ProfEmeritus said:
Try this note for information on the church in Mexico…
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-03-19/pope-mexico-church-state/53657084/1
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Adriana said:
Thank you so much for this article Lisa. I am a young Mexican-American doing a college report on the Cristero rebellion with little information found anywhere to help me. My great-grandfather fought in the war so it means a lot to me to learn as much as I can about my ancestors and the religion they fought for. Once again, thank you!
Lisa / Smallest Leaf said:
Thanks for commenting, Adriana. I’m very happy my article might have helped to guide you to a few resources on this period in history. It has definitely been overlooked by many, even though it is such recent history.
If you’d like, we’d love to have you share your research with us after you complete your report, and possibly tell us the story of your great-grandfather’ s role. “The Catholic Gene” has many readers who are interested in learning more about the Cristero period in Mexico.
Lisa
Boliviana said:
I am surpriced that even educated Mexicans ignore the Crustero war,is it thought in schools?
The film like There will be Dragons was ignored by the media and Hollywood, but to regular Americans with values it was a gift
Long live Christ The King.
Lisa / Smallest Leaf said:
I, too, was very surprised at how this aspect of Mexican history had been largely forgotten. It was so recent, yet it had disappeared from memory. Thanks, Boliviana, for reading and commenting. It appears that this movie has succeeded in beginning to bring public attention back to this horrific time in Mexico. I hope that the suffering and courage of the people who lived through it will not be forgotten.
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Linda Huesca Tully said:
Your article is well-written and engaging, Lisa. This is an important story that needs to be heard, and you’ve done a very thorough job here.
I just finished writing about my late father’s own experience with it on my blog, Many Branches, One Tree, and have included a link to your post. If you’re interested, you can find it at http://manybranchesonetree.blogspot.com/2013/05/church-record-sunday-lifes-lessons-part.html
Lisa / Smallest Leaf said:
Linda, it has taken me way too long to reply to you. I greatly apologize! I read your comment right after you had posted it and went on to read your touching articles about your Dad and his experiences during the Cristero period. (My family was going through a very hectic few weeks, and I planned to wait for things to slow down to write back to you. Life gets in the way!)
I was greatly touched by your father’s story as you shared it in those three separate articles. What an incredible impact this period in Mexico’s history had on your dad and on countless others whose stories have not yet been told. Surely, as much as these trials impacted your father and changed his approach to life, they have done so for millions more, many of whom have kept their experiences to themselves and suffered in silence.
When I did my initial research into the Cristero rebellion and came to understand the atrocities that occurred at the hands of the Mexican government, it was so hard to believe that this great human tragedy had occurred so relatively recently. How could we – living so shortly after its occurrence and so geographically close to it – know so very little about this trying time? Thank you again for taking the time to share your father’s story. I hope you will inspire others to do the same. It is a tale that is only beginning to be told.
Lisa
Note to readers: Linda tells her family’s story at Many Branches, One Tree. Direct links to the three articles about her father and his experiences with the Cristero rebellion are: Church Record Sunday: Life’s Lessons, Part 1 – Unbreakable Faith, Wisdom Wednesday: Life’s Lessons, Part 2 – The Defining Moments, and Thankful Thursday: Life’s Lessons, Part 3 – The Forces that Shape Us.
Linda Huesca Tully said:
Thank you, Lisa. Your kind words came at just the right time, as my father began his new life with the Lord on this day four years ago. His faith has been a guiding light for me in my own life of faith. Thank God for him and for so many others who have stayed strong through countless trials and challenges.
Lisa / Smallest Leaf said:
My heart goes out to you as you think of your father today, Linda. What a wonderful man he must have been. It is obvious that he left you with many gifts and a great legacy. May God’s peace be with his soul, and with you and all your family.
Sharon unda said:
Viva mexico y que Viva Cristo Rey!!!!!!!!!
michael velasco said:
My family hid their parish Priest Father Jose Isabel Flores Varela in their home in Zapotlanejo, Jalisco and helped smuggle him in and out of town. One of my great uncles was executed and my grandfather and grand uncle escaped to the U.S. Later, my grandmother, father and two uncles also escaped. My father recounted many stories of how my family protected our Catholic faith. My great grand aunt Natividad Maria Venegas, a nun who helped establish the Sacred Heart hospital in Guadalajara was canonized along with 25 martyred priests on May 21, 200. The persecution of the Catholic Church by the masonic government has continued since the the French emperor was overthrown in the 1880s. It continues today, just not as overt.
Lisa / Smallest Leaf said:
Thank you very much for sharing your family’s story here in this comment, Michael. What an incredible period of suffering that they lived through! Could you please share the name of your grand-aunt who was canonized? I’d be very interested to learn more about her.
michael velasco, State Pro Life Director, Indiana Knights of Columbus said:
My great-grand aunt’s given name was Maria Natividad Venegas. Her Saint name is
Santa Maria de Jesus Sacramentado Venegas., canonized along with 25 Martyrs in May of 2000. I have more info that you might like but my computer is dying! 3993 Willowood Ct. Crown Point, Indiana 46307-8945.
evelynyorozco said:
Reblogged this on COMN 2030: Social Movement Rhetoric and commented:
As I read this, I tough of all the public memories that are incrypted into Catholics minds. This is one event in history which will always be remembered due to the fact that innocent people died impede to save the religion. As I read this I saw that most people were just punished for saying “Adios ” which is very community in today’s society. It was jot until after the crsiteros decided to fight for their religious belief that things started to change. War was difficult since it was mostly middle class citizens, priests and members of the church fighting. Finding guns was complicated, for there was law enforcement everywhere ready to strike down any potential threat.
This in particular reflects memories because as people attend mass, it is a constant remainder that religious freedom did not come easy. Many priest were killed inside the church and often portrayed as if were for the good of Mexico. Also there is many memorials throughout Mexico that tell the stories of those who died. In the other hand, the Pope has also declared many of these martyrs as saints and given a n importance to this.
However like many other occasions this is not known by all. Many Mexican citizens are oblivious to the struggle. These soldiers are not seen as heroes and are often forgotten. In some more radical cases, the church itself hides the truth of what had happen and therefore information regarding this event is scarce.
From The Pews said:
Thank you for this!
Though I wasn’t a fan of the movie, I liked the premise, but believe that it took away from the suffering and the true torment of the martyrs by focusing on the General’s character. But, just my opinion 😉
Linked to your blog, btw. THANKS!!
Lisa / Smallest Leaf said:
Thanks for your comment and for sharing your thoughts on the movie.
Jerry A. said:
Hello Lisa;
During a fairly recent initiated quest and/or research in finding the identity and whereabouts of a distant relative that allegedly took part and died during the ‘Cristeros’ conflict that I stumbled upon this website and your blog. I did too saw the movie and deduced a much greater appreciation for what took place in Mexico not too long ago. Coincidentally, last night I attended to see and hear in person for the first time Matthew Kelly which further provided me with prioritizing depth, perspective and purpose to what really being Catholic is all about. With the recent atrocities being committed in the prosecution, abduction and execution against Syrian Christian Catholics, it really brings the ‘Cristeros’ struggle back to the forefront once again, and this time not only impacting Catholics. I would like to congratulate you on your blog of such important topic and part of history which unfortunately is once again prevalent.
Lisa / Smallest Leaf said:
Thanks very much for reading and for your kind comments about my article, Jerry. It is indeed critical that we bring and keep this time and place in the forefront of our historical memory.
Lary9 said:
I did not find it difficult to find good, solid internet resources on the real history of the conflict between secular Mexicans and the Cisteros, a radical Right wing group cobbled together from a range of activists who wanted Roman Catholicism to be the Mexican state religion. The Mexican Constitution, reinvigorated in 1925, had laws codifying the strict separation of church & state that all Americans would recognize. These chartered guarantees of state secularism are under siege even now in the US by forces that would an American Taliban out history’s greatest experiment in liberty. In fact, watching the film “For Greater Glory”, motivated me to search for more accurate history precisely because the film had such blatantly thin characterizations of the deeper issues that effect us all—both the religious and non-religious alike.
This film was more agitprop from Andy Garcia’s biased political theater. Anyone wanting to know the authentic story of this fascinating struggle in Mexico’s rich national memoirs would do much better to read works of real history.
Lary9 said:
typo~[“…that would ~create~ an American Taliban…”]
Leslie Davis said:
Travelogues by Evelyn Waugh, Robbery Under Law, and Graham Greene, The Lawless Roads, both British Catholics who traveled in Mexico during this period (mid 30s), may be of interest to readers.
Jonas said:
Good movie..but why was this movie in english with latinos actors? For that i give this movie 1 star 🌟..
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gonzalo said:
was deeply inspired by reading your article….thank u very much
Phil Whelan said:
Lisa, i am amassed that i have never heard of this, I am amassed that this is not common knowledge, it is beyond belief that all this history is swept under the rug, that this is being implemented here in america and that we are all blind to this, thank you for the lesson