Cristero War

Cristero War
Map of Mexico showing regions in which Cristero outbreaks occurred Large-scale outbreaks Moderate outbreaks Sporadic outbreaks
Date 3 August 1926 – 21 June 1929 (2 years, 10 months, 2 weeks and 4 days) Location Mexico Result Ceasefire Mexican governmentandArchbishop Ruiz y Flóressign U.S.-brokeredarreglospact; church withdraws support forCristeros Recognition of certain Cristero demands Catholic Churchreestablishedin Mexico
Belligerents
Mexican Government Mexican Army Support: United States	Cristeros Support: Knights of Columbus
Commanders and leaders
Plutarco Elías Calles Emilio Portes Gil Joaquín Amaro Domínguez Saturnino Cedillo Heliodoro Charis Marcelino García Barragán Jaime Carrillo Genovevo Rivas Guillén Álvaro Obregón†	Enrique Gorostieta Velarde† José Reyes Vega† Alberto B. Gutiérrez Aristeo Pedroza Andrés Salazar Carlos Carranza Bouquet† Dionisio Eduardo Ochoa† Barraza Damaso Domingo Anaya† Jesús Degollado Guízar Luis Navarro Origel† Lauro Rocha Lucas Cuevas† Matías Villa Michel Miguel Márquez Anguiano Manuel Michel Victoriano Ramírez† Victorino Bárcenas†
Strength
~100,000 men (1929)	~50,000 men and women (1929)
Casualties and losses
56,882 dead	30,000–50,000 dead
Estimated 250,000 dead 250,000 fled to the United States (mostly non-combatants)

TheCristero War(Spanish:La Guerra Cristera), also known as theCristero RebellionorLa Cristiada[lakɾisˈtjaða],was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929in response to the implementation ofsecularistandanticlericalarticles of the1917 Constitution.The rebellion was instigated as a response to an executive decree byMexican PresidentPlutarco Elías Callesto strictly enforce Article 130 of the Constitution, a decisionknown as theCalles Law.Calles sought to limit the power of theCatholic Church in Mexico,its affiliated organizations and to suppress popular religiosity.

The rural uprising in north-central Mexico was tacitly supported by the Church hierarchy, and was aided by urban Catholic supporters.The Mexican Army received support from the United States. American AmbassadorDwight Morrowbrokered negotiations between the Calles government and the Church. The government made some concessions, the Church withdrew its support for the Cristero fighters, and the conflict ended in 1929.The rebellion has been variously interpreted as a major event in the struggle between church and state that dates back to the 19th century with theWar of Reformand as the last major peasant uprising in Mexico after the end of the military phase of theMexican Revolutionin 1920.

Background

Mexican Revolution

TheMexican Revolutionstarted in 1910 against the dictatorship ofPorfirio Díazand for the masses' demand of land for the peasantry.Francisco I. Maderowas the first revolutionary leader.He was elected president in November 1911 but was overthrown and executed in 1913 by conservative GeneralVictoriano Huertain a series of events now known as theTen Tragic Days.After Huerta seized power, ArchbishopLeopoldo Ruiz y FlóresfromMoreliapublished a letter condemning the coup and distancing the Church from Huerta. The newspaper of the National Catholic Party, representing the views of the bishops, severely attacked Huerta and so the new regime jailed the party's president and halted the publication of the newspaper. Nevertheless, some members of the party participated in Huerta's regime, such as Eduardo Tamariz.The revolutionary generalsVenustiano Carranza,Francisco VillaandEmiliano Zapata,who won against Huerta's Federal Army under thePlan of Guadalupe,had friends among Catholics and the local parish priests who aided thembut also blamed high-ranking Catholic clergy for supporting Huerta.

1917 Mexican Constitution

Main article:Constitution of Mexico § Anticlerical articles and the 1934.2C 1946 and 1992 Amendments

The1917 Constitutionwas drafted by theConstituent Congressconvened byVenustiano Carranzain September 1916, and it was approved on 5 February 1917.It was based on the previous1857 Constitution,which had been instituted byBenito Juárez.Articles 3, 27, and 130 of the 1917 Constitution contained articles that restricted the power and the influence of the Catholic Church.

The first two sections ofArticle 3stated: "I. According to the religious liberties established under article 24, educational services shall be secular and, therefore, free of any religious orientation. II. The educational services shall be based on scientific progress and shall fight against ignorance, ignorance's effects, servitudes, fanaticism and prejudice."The second section ofArticle 27stated: "All religious associations organized according to article 130 and its derived legislation, shall be authorized to acquire, possess or manage only the necessary assets to achieve their objectives."

The first paragraph ofArticle 130stated: "The rules established at this article are guided by the historical principle according to whichthe State and the churches are separated entitiesfrom each other. Churches and religious congregations shall be organized under the law. "

The Constitution also provided for mandatory registration of all churches and religious congregations and forbade priests to involve themselves in politics or inherit from anyone other than close relatives.It also allowed eachstateto control the number of priests in its territory (some reduced it to zero), forbade the wearing of religious garb outside of church premises, and excluded offenders from a trial by jury. Carranza declared himself opposed to the final draft of Articles 3, 5, 24, 27, 123 and 130, but the Constitutional Congress contained only 85 conservatives and centrists who were close to Carranza's moderate liberalism. Against them were 132 delegates of a more radical and anti-clerical mindset.

Article 24stated: "Every man shall be free to choose and profess any religious belief as long as it is lawful and it cannot be punished under criminal law. The Congress shall not be authorized to enact laws either establishing or prohibiting a particular religion. Religious ceremonies of public nature shall be ordinarily performed at the temples. Those performed outdoors shall be regulated under the law."

Conflict between church and state

TheMexican Revolutionwas the costliest conflict inMexican history.The overthrow of the dictatorPorfirio Díazcaused political instability, with many contending factions and regions.TheCatholic Churchand the Díaz government had come to an informalmodus vivendiin which the state formally maintained the anticlerical articles of the liberalConstitution of 1857but it failed to enforce them.A change of leadership or a wholesale overturning of the previous order were potential sources of danger to the Church's position. In the democratizing wave of political activity, the National Catholic Party (Partido Católico Nacional) was formed.

After presidentFrancisco I. Maderowas overthrown and assassinated in aFebruary 1913 military coupwhich was led by GeneralVictoriano Huerta,supporters of the Porfirian regime were returned to their posts. After the ouster of Huerta in 1914, members of the National Catholic Party and high-ranking Church figures were accused of collaborating with the Huerta regime, and the Catholic Church was subjected to revolutionary hostilities and fierce anticlericalism by many northern revolutionaries. TheConstitutionalistfaction won the revolution and its leader,Venustiano Carranza,had a new constitution drawn up, theConstitution of 1917.It strengthened the anticlerical provisions of the previous document, but President Carranza and his successor, GeneralAlvaro Obregón,were preoccupied by their struggles with their internal enemies and as a result, they were lenient in their enforcement of the Constitution's anticlerical articles, especially in areas where the Church was powerful.

Carranza was the first president under the 1917 Constitution but he was overthrown by his former allyÁlvaro Obregónin 1919. Obregón took over the presidency in late 1920 and effectively applied the Constitution's anticlerical laws in areas in which the Church was fragile.The uneasy truce with the Church ended with Obregón's 1924 handpicked succession of the atheistPlutarco Elías Calles.MexicanJacobins,supported by Calles's central government, engaged in secularization campaigns to eradicate what they called "superstition" and "fanaticism", which included the desecration of religious objects as well as the persecution and the murder of members of the clergy.

WhenCallesand hisLabor Partycame to power in 1924, the administration believed that the Church was challenging its revolutionary initiatives and legal basis and resolved to strictly enforce the Constitution's secularist articles. To confront the Church's influence, laws were brought into force to execute on the constitutional provisions, which triggered a ten-year-long religious conflict in which thousands of armed civilians were killed by the Mexican Army. Some have characterized Calles as the leader of anatheist stateand his program as being one to eradicate religion in Mexico,although Calles also supported the creation of theMexican Catholic Apostolic Churchin 1925, anational churchindependent from the Vatican and accepting of the secularist Constitution.Calles applied the anticlerical laws stringently throughout the country and added his own anticlerical legislation. In June 1926, he signed the "Law for Reforming the Penal Code," which was popularly called theCalles Law.It provided specific penalties for priests and individuals who violated the provisions of the 1917 Constitution. For instance, wearing clerical garb in public, outside church buildings, earned a fine of 500 pesos (then the equivalent of US$250), and priests who criticized the government could be imprisoned for five years.Some states enacted their own anticlerical measures.Chihuahuaenacted a law permitting only one priest to serve all Catholics in the state.To help enforce the law, Calles expropriated church property, expelled all foreign priests and closed monasteries, convents and religious schools.

Protests and radicalization

In response to the measures, Catholic organizations began to intensify their resistance. The most important Catholic group was theNational League for the Defense of Religious Liberty,founded in 1924, which was joined by the Mexican Association of Catholic Youth, founded in 1913, and the Popular Union, a Catholic political party founded the previous year.

Later in 1926, Calles intensified tensions against the clergy by ordering all local churches in and around Jalisco to be bolted shut. The places of worship remained shut for two years. On 14 July, Catholic bishops endorsed plans for an economic boycott against the government, which was particularly effective in west-central Mexico (the states ofJalisco,Michoacán,Guanajuato,Aguascalientes,andZacatecas).Other states that saw minor uprising were the followingOaxaca,Colima,Sonora, andNayarit.Catholics in those areas stopped attending movies and plays and using public transportation, and Catholic teachers stopped teaching in secular schools.

The fomenting conflict attracted the attention ofPope Pius XI,who issued a series ofpapal encyclicalsfrom 1925 to 1937. On 18 November 1926, he issuedIniquis afflictisque( "On the Persecution of the Church in Mexico" ) to denounce the violent anticlerical persecution in Mexico.Despite the government's promises, the persecution of the Church continued. In response, Pius issuedAcerba animion 29 September 1932.

The bishops asked to have the offending articles of the Constitution amended.Pope Pius XIexplicitly approved the plan. The Calles government considered the bishops' activism to be sedition and had many more churches closed. In September 1926, the episcopate submitted a proposal to amend the Constitution, but theMexican Congressrejected it on 22 September.

A modern reproduction of the flag used by the Cristeros with references to "Viva Cristo Rey"and"Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe"

Government forces publicly hanged Cristeros on main thoroughfares throughout Mexico, including in the Pacific states ofColimaandJalisco,where bodies often remained hanging for extended lengths of time.

Rebellion

The government called the rebelsCristerossince they invoked the name ofJesus Christunder the title of "Cristo Rey" orChrist the King,and the rebels soon took to using the name themselves. The rebellion is known for theFeminine Brigades of St. Joan of Arc,a brigade of women who assisted the rebels in smuggling guns and ammunition, and for certain priests who were tortured and murdered in public and latercanonizedbyPope John Paul II.The rebellion eventually came to an end following a settlement brokered by the American AmbassadorDwight W. Morrow,with financial relief and logistical assistance provided by theKnights of Columbus.

Beginning of violence

Cristero Victoriano Ramirez

On 3 August, four days after the Calles Law came into force, inGuadalajara, Jalisco,some 400 armed Catholics shut themselves in the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe ( "Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe" ). They exchanged gunfire with federal troops and surrendered when they ran out of ammunition. According to American consular sources, the battle resulted in 18 dead and 40 wounded. The following day, inSahuayo,Michoacán,240 government soldiers stormed the parish church. The priest and his vicar were killed in the ensuing violence.

On 14 August, government agents staged a purge of theChalchihuites,Zacatecas,chapter of the Association of Catholic Youth and executed its spiritual adviser, Father Luis Bátiz Sainz. The execution caused a band of ranchers, led by Pedro Quintanar, to seize the local treasury and to declare themselves in rebellion.At the height of the rebellion, they held a region including the entire northern part of Jalisco. Luis Navarro Origel, mayor ofPénjamo,Guanajuato,led another uprising on 28 September. His men were defeated by federal troops in the open land around the town but retreated into the mountains, where they engaged inguerrilla warfare.In support of the two guerrilla Apache clans, the Chavez and Trujillos helped smuggle arms, munitions and supplies from the U.S. state ofNew Mexico.

That was followed by a 29 September uprising inDurango,led by Trinidad Mora, and an 4 October rebellion in southern Guanajuato, led by former General Rodolfo Gallegos.Both rebel leaders adopted guerrilla tactics since their forces were no match for federal troops. Meanwhile, rebels in Jalisco, particularly the region northeast of Guadalajara, quietly began assembling forces. Led by 27-year-oldRené Capistrán Garza,the leader of the Mexican Association of Catholic Youth, the region would become the main focal point of the rebellion.

The formal rebellion began on 1 January 1927, with a manifesto sent by Garza,A la Nación( "To the Nation" ). It declared that "the hour of battle has sounded" and that "the hour of victory belongs to God."With the declaration, the state of Jalisco, which had been seemingly quiet since the Guadalajara church uprising, exploded. Bands of rebels moving in the "Los Altos"region northeast of Guadalajara began seizing villages and were often armed with only ancient muskets and clubs. The rebels had scarce logistical supplies and relied heavily on theFeminine Brigades of St. Joan of Arcand raids on towns, trains, and ranches to supply themselves with money, horses, ammunition, and food.By contrast, the Calles government was supplied with arms and ammunition by the American government later in the war. In at least one battle, American pilots provided air support for the Federal Army against the Cristero rebels.

The Calles government failed at first to take the threat seriously. The rebels did well against theagraristas,a rural militia recruited throughout Mexico, and the Social Defense forces, the local militia, but were at first always defeated by regular federal troops, who guarded the main cities. The Federal Army then had 79,759 men. When the Jalisco federal commander, General Jesús Ferreira, moved in on the rebels, wired to army headquarters that "it will be less a campaign than a hunt".That sentiment was held also by Calles.

A photo of officers and family members from the Cristeros Castañón fighting regiment.

However, the rebels planned their battles fairly well considering that most of them had little to no previous military experience. The most successful rebel leaders were Jesús Degollado, a pharmacist;Victoriano Ramírez,a ranch hand; and two priests, Aristeo Pedroza andJosé Reyes Vega.Reyes Vega was renowned, and Cardinal Davila deemed him a "black-hearted assassin".At least five priests took up arms, and many others supported them in various ways.

Many of the rebel peasants who took up arms in the fight had different motivations from the Catholic Church. Many were still fighting for agrarianland reform,which had been years earlier the focal point of the Mexican Revolution. The peasantry was still upset of the usurpation of its rightful title to the land.

The Mexican episcopate never officially supported the rebellion,but the rebels had some indications that their cause was legitimate.BishopJosé Francisco Orozcoof Guadalajara remained with the rebels. Although he formally rejected armed rebellion, he was unwilling to leave his flock.

Cristero GeneralEnrique Gorostieta.

On 23 February 1927, the Cristeros defeated federal troops for the first time atSan Francisco del Rincón,Guanajuato,followed by another victory atSan Julián, Jalisco.However, they quickly began to lose in the face of superior federal forces, retreated into remote areas, and constantly fled federal soldiers. Most of the leadership of the revolt in the state of Jalisco was forced to flee to the U.S. although Ramírez and Vega remained.

In April 1927, the leader of the civilian wing of the Cristiada,Anacleto González Flores,was captured, tortured, and killed.The media and the government declared victory, and plans were made for a re-education campaign in the areas that had rebelled. As if to prove that the rebellion was not extinguished and to avenge his death, Vega led a raid against a train carrying a shipment of money for theBank of Mexicoon 19 April 1927. The raid was a success, but Vega's brother was killed in the fighting.

The "Reconcentración" policy, was a policy of forced resettlement by the government during the cristero period of villages destroyed during the numerous battles.rather than suppressing the revolt, gave it new life, as thousands of men began to aid and join the rebels in resentment for their treatment by the government. When rains came, the peasants were allowed to return to the harvest, and there was now more support than ever for the Cristeros. By August 1927, they had consolidated their movement and had begun constant attacks on federal troops garrisoned in their towns. They would soon be joined byEnrique Gorostieta,a retired general hired by theNational League for the Defense of Religious Liberty.

On 21 June 1927, the first Women's Brigade was formed inZapopan.It began with 16 women and one man, but after a few days, it grew to 135 members and soon came to number 17,000. Its mission was to obtain money, weapons, provisions, and information for the combatant men and to care for the wounded. By March 1928, some 10,000 women were involved in the struggle, with many smuggling weapons into combat zones by carrying them in carts filled with grain or cement. By the end of the war, it numbered some 25,000.Several female Catholic activists groups formed during this women were instrumental in the formation of activist groups to promote a movement in response to the anticlerical campaigns of the period.

With close ties to the Church and the clergy, the De La Torre family was instrumental in bringing the Cristero Movement to northern Mexico. The family, originally from Zacatecas and Guanajuato, moved to Aguascalientes and then, in 1922, to San Luis Potosí. It moved again to Tampico for economic reasons and finally to Nogales (both the Mexican city and its similarly named sister city across the border in Arizona) to escape persecution from authorities because of its involvement in the Church and the rebels.The Cristeros maintained the upper hand throughout 1928, and in 1929, the government faced a new crisis: a revolt within army ranks that was led by Arnulfo R. Gómez inVeracruz.The Cristeros tried to take advantage by a failed attack on Guadalajara in late March 1929. The rebels managed to takeTepatitlánon 19 April, but Vega was killed. The rebellion was met with equal force, and the Cristeros were soon facing divisions within their own ranks.Another difficulty facing the Cristeros and especially the Catholic Church was the extended period without a place of worship. The clergy faced the fear of driving away the faithful masses by engaging in war for so long. They also lacked the overwhelming sympathy or support from many aspects of Mexican society, even among many Catholics.

Diplomacy

Armed Cristeros congregating in the streets of Mexico.

In October 1927, the American ambassador,Dwight Morrow,initiated a series of breakfast meetings with Calles at which they would discuss a range of issues from the religious uprising to oil and irrigation. That earned him the nickname "the ham and eggs diplomat" in U.S. papers. Morrow wanted the conflict to end for regional security and to help find a solution to the oil problem in the U.S. He was aided in his efforts by FatherJohn J. Burkeof theNational Catholic Welfare Conference.Calles's term as president was coming to an end, and ex-PresidentÁlvaro Obregónhad been elected president and was scheduled to take office on 1 December 1928. Obregón had been more lenient to Catholics during his time in office than Calles, but it was also generally accepted among Mexicans, including the Cristeros, that Calles was hispuppet leader.Two weeks after his election, Obregón was assassinated by a Catholic radical,José de León Toral,which gravely damaged the peace process.

Cristero union.

In September 1928, Congress namedEmilio Portes Gilas interim president with a special election to be held in November 1929. Portes was more open to the Church than Calles had been and allowed Morrow and Burke to restart the peace initiative. Portes told a foreign correspondent on 1 May 1929, that "the Catholic clergy, when they wish, may renew the exercise of their rites with only one obligation, that they respect the laws of the land." The next day, the exiled Archbishop Leopoldo Ruíz y Flores issued a statement that the bishops would not demand the repeal of the laws but only their more lenient enforcement.

Mexican Army General Heliodoro Charis.

Morrow managed to bring the parties to agreement on 21 June 1929. His office drafted a pact called thearreglos( "agreement" ), which allowed worship to resume in Mexico and granted three concessions to the Catholics.Only priests who were named by hierarchical superiors would be required to register; religious instruction in churches but not in schools would be permitted; and all citizens, including the clergy, would be allowed to make petitions to reform the laws.However, the most important parts of the agreement were that the Church would recover the right to use its properties, and priests would recover their rights to live on the properties. Legally speaking, the Church was not allowed to own real estate, and its former facilities remained federal property.However, the Church effectively took control over the properties. In the convenient arrangement for both parties, the Church ostensibly ended its support for the rebels.

Cristeros Boss es interview and the head of Military Operations of the State of Colima on 21 June 1929.

Over the previous two years, anticlerical officers, who were hostile to the federal government for reasons other than its position on religion, had joined the rebels. When the agreement between the government and the Church was made known, only a minority of the rebels went home, mainly those who felt their battle had been won. On the other hand, since the rebels themselves had not been consulted in the talks, many felt betrayed, and some continued to fight. The Church threatened those rebels with excommunication and the rebellion gradually died out. The officers, fearing that they would be tried as traitors, tried to keep the rebellion alive. Their attempt failed, and many were captured and shot, and others escaped toSan Luis Potosí,where GeneralSaturnino Cedillogave them refuge.

The war had claimed the lives of some 90,000 people: 56,882 federals, 30,000 Cristeros, and numerous civilians and Cristeros who were killed in anticlerical raids after the war had ended.As promised by Portes Gil, the Calles Law remained on the books, but there were no organized federal attempts to enforce it. Nonetheless, in several localities, officials continued persecution of Catholic priests, based on their interpretation of the law.

In 1992, the Mexican government amended the constitution by granting all religious groups legal status, conceding them property rights, and lifting restrictions on the number of priests in the country.

American involvement

Mexican American resistance

While the war was raging on in Mexico, Cristero exiles and otherMexican immigrantsand refugees would attend sermons by banished Cristero priests denouncing PresidentPlutarco Elías Calles' regime and the Cristero War.These attendees would also help generate sympathy in the United States for the Cristero War by printing newspaper articles about the war and would create religious nationalistic organizations such asUnión Nacionalista Mexicana (Nationalist Mexican's Union in English) to gather funds for the war effort. There were some within these groups that would contribute more military aid to the Cristeros, with actions including smuggling arms across theU.S.-Mexican border,providing espionage against the Mexican government, recruiting new troops to aid the Cristeros, and inciting armed revolts within Mexico.Despite all of these efforts, their contribution to the war was largely limited due to distrust from the United States government who saw an armed Catholic movement as dangerous and would send more troops to the border, which would cause more persecution and discrimination to Mexican Catholics, Cristero exiles, and refugees.

Knights of Columbus

Created in Massachusetts in 1882, theKnights of Columbuswould establish its first chapter in Mexico calledCaballeros de Colón(Knights of Columbus in Spanish) in Mexico City in 1905.Established by California railroad mogul and KnightJohn B. Frisbie,a resident of Mexico City, the first chapter would be made up of mostly Irish and Irish-Mexicans before more Mexicans would join the organization. The Knights of Columbus would eventually become one of Mexico's biggest and most monumental Catholic organizations, with a total of 5,102 members across 45 councils nationwide.The Knights of Columbus would start out in western states, an area where the Catholic Church was widespread, such asPuebla,Hidalgo,Michoacán,Guanajuato,andJalisco,before spreading toNayarit,Veracruz,Coahuila,Durango,andChihuahua.Mexican members of the Knights of Columbus would also be involved with other Catholic organizations such as the Young Men's Catholic Association andLaLiga Nacional Defensora de la Libertad Religiosa(National League for the Defense of Religious Libertyin English).The Knights of Columbus would create religious schools throughout Mexico in 1923 as a way to create a "National Crusade in Defense of Catholicism".Furthermore,La Ligawould create a popular, nationwide boycott in 1925 to protest the government's treatment of Catholics and the ongoing anti-religious sentiment present throughout the government. The Knights of Columbus also helped to generate propaganda and support for the Cristero War, framing the war as a story of martyrs and heroes, standing up for their religion in the face of an oppressive government.

American councils and Mexican councils, mostly newly formed, of theKnights of Columbus,both opposed the persecution by the Mexican government. So far, nine of those who were beatified or canonized were Knights. The American Knights collected more than $1 million to assist exiles from Mexico, fund the continuation of the education of expelled seminarians, and inform U.S. citizens about the oppression.They circulated five million leaflets about the war in the United States, held hundreds of lectures, spread the news via radio,and paid to "smuggle"a friendly journalistinto Mexico so he could cover the war for an American audience.

In addition to lobbying the American public, the Knights met United States PresidentCalvin Coolidgeand pressed him for US intervention on behalf of the rebels.According to formerSupreme Knightof the Knights of Columbus,Carl A. Anderson,two-thirds of Mexican Catholic councils were shut down by the Mexican government. In response, the Knights of Columbus published posters and magazines which presented Cristero soldiers in a positive light.In the mid-1920s, theanti-CatholicKu Klux Klandenounced the Knights of Columbus's Mexican Fund.

Aftermath

Amnesty with the Federal Army in San Gabriel, Jalisco, under Manuel Michel.

The government often did not abide by the terms of the truce. For example, it executed some 500 Cristero leaders and 5,000 other Cristeros.Catholics continued to oppose Calles's insistence on a state monopoly on education, which suppressed Catholic education and introduced secular education in its place: "We must enter and take possession of the mind of childhood, the mind of youth."Calles's military persecution of Cristeros after the truce would be officially condemned by Mexican PresidentLázaro Cárdenasand the Mexican Congress in 1935.Between 1935 and 1936, Cárdenas had Calles and many of his close associates arrested and forced them into exile soon afterwards.Freedom of worship was no longer suppressed, but some states refused to repeal Calles's policy.Relations with the Church improved under President Cárdenas.

The government's disregard for the Church, however, did not relent until 1940, when PresidentManuel Ávila Camacho,a practicing Catholic, took office.During Cárdenas presidency, Church buildings in the country continued in the hands of the Mexican government,and the nation's policies regarding the Church still fell into federal jurisdiction. Under Camacho, bans against Church anticlerical laws were no longer enforced anywhere in Mexico.

The effects of the war on the Church were profound. Between 1926 and 1934, at least 40 priests were killed.There were 4,500 priests serving the people before the rebellion, but by 1934, there were only 334 licensed by the government to serve 15 million Catholics.The rest had been eliminated by emigration, expulsion, assassination, or not obtaining licenses.In 1935, 17 states had no registered priests.

The end of the Cristero War affected emigration to the United States. "In the aftermath of their defeat, many of the Cristeros – by some estimates as much as 5 percent of Mexico's population – fled to the United States. Many of them made their way to Los Angeles, where they were received byJohn Joseph Cantwell,bishop of what was then the Los Angeles-San Diego diocese. "Under Archbishop Cantwell's sponsorship, the Cristero refugees became a substantial community in Los Angeles, California, in 1934 staging a parade some 40,000-strong throughout the city.Additionally, several other cites such asChicago, Illinois,Milwaukee,Wisconsin,andSan Antonio, Texas.Many cities saw an increase in Mexican Catholics fleeing because of the war.Immigration to other countries such as Canada, Rome, Cuba occurred as well.

Cárdenas era

The Calles Law was repealed after Cárdenas became president in 1934.Cárdenas earned respect from Pope Pius XI and befriended Mexican ArchbishopLuis María Martínez,a major figure in Mexico's Catholic Church who successfully persuaded Mexicans to obey the government's laws peacefully. The Church refused to back Mexican insurgent Saturnino Cedillo's failed revolt against Cárdenasalthough Cedillo endorsed more power for the Church.

Cárdenas's government continued to suppress religion in the field of education during his administration.The Mexican Congress amendedArticle 3 of the Constitutionin October 1934 to include the following introductory text: "The education imparted by the State shall be a socialist one and, in addition to excluding all religious doctrine, shall combat fanaticism and prejudices by organizing its instruction and activities in a way that shall permit the creation in youth of an exact and rational concept of the Universe and of social life."

The implementation of socialist education met with strong opposition in some parts of academiaand in areas that had been controlled by the Cristeros. PopePius XIalso published the encyclicalFirmissimam constantiamon 28 March 1937, expressing his opposition to the "impious and corruptive school" (paragraph 22) and his support forCatholic Actionin Mexico. That was the third and last encyclical published by Pius XI that referred to the religious situation in Mexico.The amendment was ignored by PresidentManuel Ávila Camachoand was officially repealed from the Constitution in 1946.Constitutional bans against the Church would not be enforced anywhere in Mexico during Camacho's presidency.

Cristeros' targeted violence against government forces and public school teachers

Many former Cristeros took up arms again and fought as independent rebels and some Catholics joined them. They targeted unarmed public school teachers who implemented secular education and committed atrocities against them.Government supporters blamed the atrocities on the Cristeros in general.Some of the teachers who were paid by the government refused to leave their schools and communities, and as a result, they sustained mutilations when Cristeros cut their ears off.Thus, the teachers who were murdered during the conflict are frequently referred to asmaestros desorejados( "teachers without ears" ).

In some cases, teachers were tortured and killed by former Cristero rebels.It is calculated that approximately 300 rural teachers were killed between 1935 and 1939,and other authors calculate that at least 223 teachers were victims of the violence which occurred between 1931 and 1940,the acts of violence which occurred during this period included the assassinations of Carlos Sayago, Carlos Pastraña, and Librado Labastida inTeziutlán,Puebla, the hometown of PresidentManuel Ávila Camacho;the execution of a teacher, Carlos Toledano, who was burned alive in Tlapacoyan,Veracruz;and the lynching of at least 42 teachers in the state ofMichoacán.

Cristeros, Priests and Catholic civilians victims of government violence

Main article:Saints of the Cristero War

On 23 November 1927,Miguel Agustín Pro,a MexicanJesuit,was executed by a firing squad inMexico City.

The Catholic Church has recognized several of those who were killed in the Cristero War asmartyrs,includingMiguel Pro,aJesuitwho was shot dead without trial by a firing squad on 23 November 1927, for his alleged involvement in an assassination attempt against former PresidentÁlvaro Obregón,though his supporters maintained that he was executed for carrying out his priestly duties in defiance of the government.Hisbeatificationoccurred in 1988.

On 21 May 2000,Pope John Paul IIcanonized a group of 25 martyrs who were killed during the Cristero War.They had been beatified on 22 November 1992. Of this group, 22 weresecular clergy,and three were laymen.They did not take up armsbut refused to leave their flocks and ministries and were shot or hanged by government forces for offering thesacraments.Most were executed by federal forces. AlthoughPedro de Jesús Maldonadowas killed in 1937, after the war ended, he is considered a member of the Cristeros.

The Catholic Church recognized 13 additional victims of the war as martyrs on 20 November 2005, thus paving the way for their beatifications.This group was mostly lay people, including Luis Magaña Servín and 14-year-oldJosé Sánchez del Río.On 20 November 2005, at Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara,José Saraiva Cardinal Martinscelebrated the beatifications.Furthermore, some religious relics have been brought to the United States from Jalisco and are currently located at Our Lady of the Mount Church inCicero, Illinois.

The war would lead to refugees and exiles to flee to the United States, mostly from the central-Pacific region, as state-enforced violence towards Catholics would lead religious Mexicans from states such asHidalgo,Jalisco,Michoacán,andGuanajuatoto leave for the United States.Within these new arrivals, there were 2,500 exiles with positions within theCatholic Church in Mexico,creating a Cristero Diaspora alongside other refugees, immigrants, and non-clergy exiles.Most of these refugees were also farmers, ranchers, and laborers, and due to increased transportation services between the United States and Mexico, immigration was easier than ever before.These immigrants would take industrial and labor-intensive jobs within the United States, particularly in California, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico.Leading to the creation of many churches and religious institutions in many states with Cristo Rey and Our Lady of Guadalupe as names.Building seminary's to house displaced clergy members and several convents housing nuns.

A banner from a group of Cristero supporters at the Centro de Estudios Cristeros inEncarnación de Díaz,Jalisco.

In popular culture

For Greater Gloryis a 2012 film based on the events of the Cristero War.

The novelJosé TrigobyFernando del Pasopartly centers on the Cristero War.Graham Greene's 1940 novelThe Power and the Glorydeals with the Mexican government's attempt to suppress the Catholic Church during the war.

Many films, shorts, and documentaries about the war have been produced since 1929such asCristiada(akaFor Greater Glory) from 2012.

Several ballads, orcorridos,were composed in the period of the war by federal troops and Cristeros.

Cristeros are also mentioned in the 2019James EllroynovelThis Storm

The Cristero War is also mentioned in the 1955Juan RulfonovelPedro Páramo.

See also

• Calles Law
• Catholic Church in Latin America
• Catholic Church in Mexico
• National Synarchist Union
• Feminine Brigades of St. Joan of Arc
• Kulturkampf
• List of wars involving Mexico
• Mexican Revolution
• Reform War

Primary sources

Aurelio Acevedo, ed. David: revista mensual ilustrada, historia cristera, información y civismo. 7 vols. Mexico, D.F.: Legión de Cristo Rey y Santa María de Guadalupe—veteranos de la Guardia Nacional Cristeros, 1952.

Bessières, Albert. Le Mexique Martyr. Paris: Maison de la bonne presse, 1928.

Chowell Martín. Luis Navarro Origel El Primer Cristero. Jus 1959.

Dragon Antonio and Lawrence Drummond. 1930. Miguel Augustin Pro of the Society of Jesus : Martyr of Christ the King Executed in Mexico 23 November 1927. Montreal: Messenger Press.

Mendoza Barragán Ezequiel.Testimonio Cristero : Memorias Del Autor.1. ed. Editorial Jus 1990.

Degollado Guízar, Jesús. Memorias de Jesús Degollado Guízar, último general en jefe del ejército cristero. [1. ed.]. Colección de memorias, ser. A. México: Editorial Jús, 1957.

Galeria De Martires Mexicanos : Narraciones Veridicas.1927. San Antonio Tex: Imprenta Universal.

Gorostieta, Luz María Pérez, and Juan Rodolfo Sánchez Gómez, eds. Cartas del General Enrique Gorostieta a Gertrudis Lasaga. Libros UANL. Libros UANL, 2013.https://libros.uanl.mx/index.php/u/catalog/book/51.

Navarrete Heriberto.Por Dios Y Por La Patria : Memorias De Mi Participación En La Defensa De La Libertad De Conciencia Y Culto Durante La Persecución Religiosa En México De 1926 a 1929.1a. ed. Jus 1961.

Reguer, Consuelo. Dios y mi derecho: Año de 1932-Año de 1933-Situación de la Liga Nacional Defensora de la Libertad Segundo Levantamiento-Año de 1934 Año de 1935-Año de 1936-Ultimos años. 1. ed. Vol. 4. 4 vols. México: Editorial Jus, 1997.

Dios y mi derecho: Antecedentes-Epopeya Cristera-Clímax de la Epopeya Cristera Obispos-Boletines y Documentos. 1. ed. Vol. 1. 4 vols. México: Editorial Jus, 1997. Dios y mi derecho: Los Arreglos. (Primera parte)-Los Arreglos. (Segunda parte) Fin del año 1930-Año 1931-Educación. 1. ed. Vol. 3. 4 vols. México: Editorial Jus, 1997. Dios y mi derecho: Luis Segura Vilchis-Fusilamientos-Año 1927-Año 1928 Asesinato de Obregón-Año 1928 (Continuación)-Año 1929. 1. ed. Vol. 2. 4 vols. México: Editorial Jus, 1997.

Rius Facius, Antonio. Méjico Cristero: Historia de la ACJM 1925 a 1931. México, D.F.: Editorial Patria, 1960.

Secondary Sources

• Bailey, David C.Viva Cristo Rey! The Cristero Rebellion and the Church-State Conflict in Mexico(1974); 376pp; a standard scholarly history
• Butler, Matthew.Popular Piety and political identity in Mexico's Cristero Rebellion: Michoacán, 1927–29.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Ellis, L. Ethan (1958). "Dwight Morrow and the Church-State Controversy in Mexico".The Hispanic American Historical Review.38(4): 482–505.doi:10.2307/2510111.JSTOR2510111.
• Espinosa, David (2003). ""Restoring Christian Social Order": The Mexican Catholic Youth Association (1913-1932) ".The Americas.59(4): 451–474.doi:10.1353/tam.2003.0037.JSTOR1008566.S2CID143528516.
• Horn, James J. (1973). "Did the United States Plan an Invasion of Mexico in 1927?".Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs.15(4): 454–471.doi:10.2307/175010.JSTOR175010.
• Jrade, Ramon (1985)."Inquiries into the Cristero Insurrection against the Mexican Revolution".Latin American Research Review.20(2): 53–69.doi:10.1017/S0023879100034488.JSTOR2503520.S2CID133451500.
• Lawrence, Mark.Insurgency, Counter-insurgency and Policing in Centre-West Mexico, 1926–1929(Bloomsbury. 2020).
• Meade, Teresa A.History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present(Wiley-Blackwell, 2016).
• Meyer, Jean.The Cristero Rebellion: The Mexican People between Church and State, 1926–1929.Cambridge, 1976.
• Miller, Sr. Barbara (1984)."The Role of Women in the Mexican Cristero Rebellion: Las Señoras y Las Religiosas".The Americas.40(3): 303–323.doi:10.2307/981116.JSTOR981116.S2CID147564218.
• Purnell, Jenny.Popular Movements and State Formation in Revolutionary Mexico: The Agraristas and Cristeros of Michoacán.Durham: Duke University Press, 1999.
• Quirk, Robert E.The Mexican Revolution and the Catholic Church, 1910–1929,Greenwood Press, 1986.
• Rice, M. Elizabeth Ann.The diplomatic relations between the United States and Mexico, as affected by the struggle for religious liberty in Mexico, 1925–1929(1959)online
• Tuck, Jim.The Holy War in Los Altos: A Regional Analysis of Mexico's Cristero Rebellion.University of Arizona Press, 1982.ISBN978-0-8165-0779-5
• Young, Julia.Mexican Exodus: Emigrants, Exiles, and Refugees of the Cristero War.New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Further reading

• Aguirre Cristiani, María Gabriela.La Política Social de La Iglesia Católica En México 1920–1924.2002.(Thesis)
• Ellstrand, Nathan,Reclaiming the Patria: Sinarquismo in the United States, 1936–1966(2022).(Thesis)
• Gallardo, Janette.The Cristero Rebellion 1926–1929: Mexican Women, Mothers, and Marianismo(Thesis).hdl:10211.3/192458.
• Grippo, Daniel D.Betraying the faith: The 1929 Church -State Arreglos that ended Mexico's Cristero Revolt(Thesis).OCLC301710606.
• Kelly, Brian John.The Cristero Rebellion, 1926–1929: its diplomacy and solution(Thesis).OCLC2551970.
• Macfarland, Charles S.Chaos in Mexico. The Conflict of Church and State(Harper, 1935)online copy of booksee also review:Knopp, John M. (1937). "Chaos in Mexico: The Conflict of Church and State".Thought.12(4): 693.doi:10.5840/thought193712416.
• Martínez, Anne M. (2021)."Catholic Monroeism: U.S. Support for the Catholic Church During the Mexican Revolution, 1914–1929".U.S. Catholic Historian.39(1): 49–69.doi:10.1353/cht.2021.0002.S2CID229447055.Project MUSE780898.
• Murphy, James T.Saints and Sinners in the Cristero War: Stories of Martyrdom from Mexico(Ignatius Press, 2019), Catholic view
• Ortoll, Servando.Catholic organizations in Mexico's national politics and international diplomacy (1926–1942) (sinarquismo, Cristero rebellion)(Thesis).OCLC20461941.
• Romo Mellid, Marisol. “Violencia y cruce de propagandas:La metáfora de la víctima Las fotografías de la Rebelión Cristera.”ZER: Revista de Estudios de Comunicación = Komunikazio Ikasketen Aldizkaria24, no. 47 (October 30, 2019).doi: 10.1387/zer.21003.
• O'Dogherty Madrazo, Laura.De Urnas Y Sotanas: El Partido Católico Nacional En Jalisco.,1999.(Thesis)
• O’Sullivan, Lucy. "Photographic Postcard Commemorating Antonio Verástegui,"Object Narrative.MAVCOR Journal5, no. 1 (2021), 10.22332/mav.obj.2021.7.
• O’Sullivan, Lucy. “Martyrdom in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: The Photograph as Testimony and Trace in Mexico’s Cristero War (1926–29).”Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture6, no. 1 (January 1, 2024): 1–19.https://doi.org/10.1525/lavc.2024.6.1.1.
• Reich, Peter Lester."Mexico's Hidden Revolution: The Catholic Church in Politics since 1929."University of California, Los Angeles,1991, pp. 1–295. (Thesis)
• Slawson, Douglas J. (1990). "The National Catholic Welfare Conference and the Church-State Conflict in Mexico, 1925–1929".The Americas.47(1): 55–93.doi:10.2307/1006724.JSTOR1006724.S2CID147700313.
• Smith, Benjamin (2009). "Anticlericalism, Politics, and Freemasonary in Mexico, 1920-1940".The Americas.65(4): 559–588.doi:10.1353/tam.0.0109.JSTOR25488182.S2CID144533825.
• Wilkie, James W. (1966). "The Meaning of the Cristero Religious War Against the Mexican Revolution".Journal of Church and State.8(2): 214–233.doi:10.1093/jcs/8.2.214.JSTOR23913317.
• Young, Julia Grace Darling (2009).Mexican emigration during the Cristero War, 1926–1929(Thesis).ProQuest305049789.
• Van Oosterhout, Keith Aaron. "Popular Conservatism in Mexico: Religion, Land, and Popular Politics in Nayarit and Queretaro,1750–1873. "PhD diss., Michigan State University, 2014.
• Lopez-Menendez, Marisol (2011).The Holy Jester: Martyrdom, Social Cohesion and Meaning in Mexico The story of Miguel Agustin Pro SJ, 1927–1988(Thesis).ProQuest924485046.
• Pina, Ulices.Rebellious Citizens: National Reforms and the Practice of Local Governance in Jalisco, Mexico, 1914–1940. (2017),( Thesis)
• Dodson, Julian. "Fanaticos, Exiles and the Mexico-U.S. Border: Episodes of Mexican State Reconstruction, 1923–1929." (2015)Thesis.
• Sánchez-Walker, Marjorie. "Migration Quicksand: Immigration Law and Immigration Advocates at the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez Border Crossing, 1933–1941. "1999 (Thesis)
• Delgado Solórzano, Edma Ixchel.“Crusaders, Maytrs, and Saints: Representations of Christian Militancy In Mexico,1850–2013.” PhD diss., University of Kansas, 2015.
• Silva, Caio Pedrosa da."Mártires de Cristo Rey : revolução e religião no México (1927–1960)."PhD diss., Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas, 2015.

Historiography

• Mabry, D. J. (1 January 1978). "Mexican Anticlerics, Bishops, Cristeros, and the Devout during the 1920s: A Scholarly Debate".Journal of Church and State.20(1): 81–92.doi:10.1093/jcs/20.1.81.
• López, Damián (8 January 2018)."La guerra cristera (México, 1926-1929). Una aproximación historiográfica / The Cristero War (Mexico, 1926-1929). A Historiographic Survey".Historiografías:35–52.doi:10.26754/ojs_historiografias/hrht.201112523.S2CID187566026.
• Butler, Mathew. «Cristeros Y Agraristas En Jalisco: Una Nueva aportación a La historiografía Cristera».Historia Mexicana,vol. 52, n.º 2, octubre de 2002, pp. 493–30,https://historiamexicana.colmex.mx/index.php/RHM/article/view/1378.

In fiction

• Greene, Graham.The Power and the Glory(novel). New York: Viking Press, 1940 (asThe Labyrinthine Ways).
• Rulfo, JuanEl Llano en llamastranslated into English asThe Burning Plain (novel).Fondo de Cultura Económica,1953

In Spanish

• De La Torre, José Luis. De Sonora al Cielo: Biografía del Excelentísimo Sr. Vicario General de la Arquidiócesis de Hermosillo, Sonora Pbro. Don Ignacio De La Torre Uribarren (Spanish Edition)[1]

External links

• Cristeros (Soldiers of Christ) – DocumentaryArchived24 March 2012 at theWayback Machine
• AP article on the 2000 canonizations
• Biography of Miguel ProArchived17 November 2011 at theWayback Machine
• Spanish article on the war
• Spanish biographies of the saints canonized in 2000
• Ferreira, Cornelia R.Blessed José Luis Sánchez del Rio: Cristero Boy Martyr,biography (2006 Canisius Books).
• Iniquis Afflictisque– encyclical of Pope Pius XI on the persecution of the Church in Mexico (18 November 1926)
• Miss Mexico wears dress depicting Cristeros at the 2007 Miss Universe Pageant
• Catholicism.org: "Valor and Betrayal – The Historical Background and Story of the Cristeros"–article by Gary Potter.
• La Cristiada – A Civil Warmini Documentary on the War produce by theUniversity of Kenton YouTube
• Online Discussion"Conflictos Durante el Gobierno de Plutarco Elías Calles"| Dr. Yves Solís Nicot of the Cristero War ofUniversidad Iberoamericana