Cristero Rebellion
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The history of the relationship between church and state in Mexico is a long and conflictual one. While nearly 90 percent of the Mexican population is affiliated with the Roman Catholic religion, historically the state has promoted secularism (Guide 1). However, the conflictual relationship between church and state erupted in numerous clashes during the 20th century; the worst case being the Cristeros Rebellion in which more than 40,000 Cristero rebels mobilized and more than 90,000 people died (Corchado 1G). Before understanding the significance of the rebellion backed by the church and mostly waged by Catholic peasants, we must look at the background of the role of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexican history. Ever since the sixteenth century when Cortes conquered New Spain, the Roman Catholic clergy have been in Mexico. During the eighteen hundreds the Roman Catholic Church gained great power in Mexico, mainly from control of schools, hospitals, and charity institutions. During the nineteenth century state officials began devising a series of reform laws aimed at undermining the power of the church. A new constitution was adopted in 1857, under the leadership of Benito Juarez, whose reforms were sever enough against the church that it resulted in Mexico’s first civil war fought during 1857-1860 (Guide 2). During 1920-1924, Alvaro Obregon was the president of Mexico (Tuck 1). He overthrew his former ally,
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umber of communities and their institutions related to land, religious practices, and political authority; a dense network of grassroots Catholic organizations capable of providing military support for a peasant rebellion; and a direct experience in confronting a revolutionary state in formation at the local level (Book 1).
The Cristeros Rebellion lasted from 1926-1929, a time during which churches were closed, officials required priests to marry if they were to officiate masses, and in Chihuahua only one priest was allowed to minister to the entire Roman Catholic population in that state. A series of challenges and responses would see violence erupt and continue to escalate. In August, 1926, in Guadalajara, more than 400 armed Catholics barricaded themselves in the Guadalupe Sanctuary and engaged in a gunfight against national troops (Tuck 3). More than 40 were wounded and 18 killed in the fight, while the following day a parish church was stormed by federal troops in Sahuayo, Michoacan, resulting in the death of a parish priest and his vicar (Tuck 3). Purges waged by the federal government in Zacatecas resulted in a chain reaction from rebel Roman Catholic peasants, some of them former federal troops. Rebels continued to w
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Approximate Word count = 2339
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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