Mexican Church holds colloquium on forgotten period of fierce persecution

One hundred years after the start of the Catholic resistance that led to the Cristero War, the Church in Mexico proposes re-examining this period “objectively.”

“It seems very important to fully understand this history, a history that has been erased from Mexico’s history books,” stated Bishop Héctor Mario Pérez Villarreal, secretary general of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, as he encouraged participation in the colloquium “One Hundred Years Since the Start of the Cristero Resistance,” taking place this week in Mexico City.

At a press conference ahead of the Oct. 14-16 event, Pérez Villarreal, who is also an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Mexico, noted that in commemorating the centennial of the religious conflict experienced in the country, known as the Cristiada or Cristero War, “rather than celebrating the tragic nature of this event, the violence, or the war, we commemorate the witness of faith of so many Mexicans.”

“Mexicans, primarily the laity, went to the defense of their faith, self-defense, and their ability and freedom to express what they believed,” he noted.

The prelate recalled that Mexican Catholics in the first half of the 20th century faced “a situation in which the law was clearly violating a fundamental right: the right to freedom of faith and religious expression.”

Amid rising tensions between the Church and the Mexican state, tensions that dated back to the second half of the 19th century, the armed uprising known as the Cristiada broke out in 1926, with Catholics from various parts of the country taking up arms against civil authorities.

The conflict arose in the context of the so-called “Calles Law,” which went into effect on July 31 of that year and severely restricted public worship and the religious life of Catholics.

Pérez Villarreal emphasized that with the colloquium, in which experts from Mexico and other countries are participating, “we are not seeking to vindicate any form of violence; rather, we want to delve deeper into the truth.”

Events like this, he noted, “help us view reality objectively rather than through the lens of ideology,” enabling us “to live in a freer Mexico.”

He further maintained that the conflict “was not an attack on the clergy; it was an attack on the religious freedom of an entire people,” and emphasized that this fundamental right is not one the state can decide to grant or not.

“Universal rights are not granted by the state; they are guaranteed by it,” he noted.

The event, organized by the Mexican Bishops’ Conference (CEM by its Spanish acronym) in conjunction with the Pontifical University of Mexico (UPM by its Spanish acronym) and the Mexican Society of Ecclesiastical History, includes lectures at the Plaza Mariana of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and at the UPM auditorium in Mexico City.

Father Juan Carlos Casas García, director of the UPM’s Department of Ecclesiastical History and the CEM’s Department of History and Art, emphasized that the Catholic resistance “went beyond an armed uprising.”

He explained that there was “peaceful resistance by Catholics who found their rights violated by legislation that openly infringed upon religious freedom and the activities of the Catholic Church in our country.”

The aim of the colloquium, he noted, is “to complete and broaden the understanding of this chapter” of Mexican history, a history marked by “contrasts, with both light and shadows.”

The priest noted that, “while acknowledging that this is a painful period in our history, it is also a historical episode filled with testimonies of faith and fidelity that we cannot forget.”

The colloquium can be followed either in person or via the CEM’s social media and the Pontifical University of Mexico.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.