#cristero

Colonel Manuel Chaparro, Cristero Leader from the Region of Morelia, Michoacán

St. José Sánchez del Río.

[A] 14-year-old boy who was killed in 1928 in Mexico during the “Cristero” struggle which opposed the government’s anti-Catholic and anticlerical policies. Under torture José refused to disown his faith; a handwritten note addressed to his mother and found on his dead body read: “I promise that in heaven I will prepare a place for all of you. Your José dies defending the Catholic faith for the love of Christ the King and Our Lady of Guadalupe”. [X]

Cristero soldiers of Colonel Candelario Villegas.

Guanajuato. November, 1927.

The last Holy Mass in the parish of Valparaíso, Zacatecas, before the suspension of all public worship in Mexico

July 31, 1926

All Mexican Bishops, with the permission and backing of the Holy See, declared a total suspension of cult and worship in the country as a way of protesting the anti-catholic persecution carried out by the government.

One day before this suspension, all across Mexico the parishes, cathedrals, and all places where the Holy Mass was celebrated were filled with millions of Mexicans wanting to hear Mass and receive the Sacraments for the last time.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the most important moment of our lives

Holy Mass celebrated at the top of a hill in Atotonilco El Alto, Jalisco.

Saint Pedro Esqueda Ramírez, martyred during the Cristero War by the Mexican government

Mexican federal forces of the 78th Regiment under General Espiridión Rodríguez Escobar arrived at San Julián on 15 March 1927. Cristero soldiers under Victoriano Ramírez and the General-priest José Reyes Vega put up a defense of the town, but the hordes of the Mexican government were superior and were overwhelming the Cristeros. During the battle, federal forces looted homes, raped women, and tortured Cristero prisoners to death.

More federal forces arrived to support Rodríguez Escobar, but around the same time, Cristero reinforcements under General Miguel Hernández came to the rescue. Hernández had his men attack the federal forces in three columns, one from the south and west, one from the east and north, and the last from the southeast which he personally commanded. With Hernández's advance, most of the federal soldiers were killed or captured (and then executed via firing squad). The battle ended in a Cristero victory and a shameful defeat for the government, especially for General Rodríguez Escobar, who survived fleeing the town disguised as a woman.

The defeat made President Plutarco Elías Calles recognize the Cristeros as a genuine threat to his anti-catholic government.

In the picture below, Cristeros celebrating the successful defense of San Julián. 

¡Viva Cristo Rey y Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe!

Our Lord Jesus Christ preaches to All Mexico: to every race, every social class, every vocation, every state of life.