History

The Role of the In the

Christopher Ohan*

o í l C

l a i r o t i d E / o c i f á r g o n o c I

o v i h c r A

Revolutionary leaders saw little use for the Catholic Church despite the fact that it obviously created social stability.

ew would deny that one of the parent that the church, even today, olutionary character in an attempt to most pervasive elements of remains the greatest unifying compo - retain its powerful hold over Mexican FMexican society is the Catholic nent in . society. Church. In fact, in the 300 years be - If the church has occupied such a tween the conquest and the Mex ican prominent place in the social makeup A N INETEENTH -C ENTURY Revolution, church and state were vir - of Mexico, why did it find itself aban - INTRODUCTION tually one and the same. As the church doned by the Revolution? Every revo - spread throughout Mexico, it became lutionary leader from Madero to Calles Before examining the role of the church difficult to encounter a Mex ican who saw little use for the Catholic Church in the Revolution, it is necessary to did not call himself/herself “Catholic.” despite its obvious characteristic of consider Mexico’s leanings toward lib - Witnessing the thousands of pilgrims providing social stability. This study, by eralism in the nineteenth century. who come to the Shrine of Our Lady examining revolutionary attitudes con - Although church and state were one of Guadalupe each day, it seems ap - cerning the church, will show that after in the colonial era, attitudes began to the first decade of the Mexican Rev - change with the French Enlighten ment. * Researcher at the Christian Uni - olution it was not the government but The writings of Vol taire and Rousseau versity Department of History. the church that actually adopted a rev - stimulated the minds of a generation

53 Voices of Mexico • 54

of young aristocrats causing them not people of Mexico, uninvolved in events place of execution, he asked permission only to take up arms against the Spanish in , the international wars to say a few words, but this request was crown, but also the church that sup - and American in vasion, beca me aware denied. However, he asked forgiveness ported the crown. Thus, with Inde pen - of and violently reacted to the Reform for any offenses that his soldiers might dence in 1824, the beginnings of anti - Laws only when the sacred aspects of have committed. 5 clericalism took hold. daily life such as charitable activities As liberalism grew in the mid-nine - be came secularized. 3 Therefore, as Obviously, the Mexican people pre - teenth century its followers be came church lands and responsibilities in - ferred the side of the Cristeros, or the increasingly secularly minded. Robert creasingly became secularized under a Catholic fighters to the seemingly bar - Quirk points out that while the church, liberal anticlerical administration, the barous government. Because of wide - with its then-me dieval outlook, saw people of Mexico adopted a clerical spread public support the fighting took the ultimate solution to the social pro - outlook. on characteristics of guerrilla warfare blems in terms of the assurance of eter - Meyer calls the changes by the Mex- where neither side was able to gain the nal salvation and happiness, the liberals ican government in the 1850s and upper hand. viewed the matter of eternal salvation It is out of this turmoil that the as an unfathomable mystery that had young Porfirio Díaz saw an opportuni - no practical bearing on the present. 1 The Reform ty for peace through conciliation. In fact, like their European counter - Laws of 1859 pitted Although Díaz fought for the govern - parts, the Mexican liberals were opti - an unstable state against a ment he recognized that mistic about the future of mankind. Man, stable church, firmly according to them, was perfec tible in grounded in There are no...uprisings of the people this life if he followed his own reason continuous except when attempts are made to and rejected the superstition of the under mine their most deeply held tra - tradition. past. ditions and to diminish their legitimate While the liberals did not control the liberty of conscience. Perse cution of government of Mexico, their influ ence the Church...means war, and such a was formidable. In the 1857 Cons ti - early 1860s a Kulturkampf .4 In other war that the Government can only win tu tion, the moderate-controlled Con - words, Mexico was breaking out of its is against its own people, through the gress placed the first formal limitations colonial church-dominated co coon into humiliating, despotic, costly and dan - on the power of the church. As John the modern world. Like the situation gerous support of the United States. Rutherford points out however, the in the Vendée during the French Rev - Without its , Mexico is irretriev - church was defeated and removed olution however, the devout Catholics ably lost. 6 from political power only on paper. 2 It had to be forced into compliance. There was not until the Reform Laws of 1859 are countless episodes of barbarism on Mexico and its church operated that church and state became physical - the part of the government and mar - under this simple philosophy for 35 ly separated. Under the liberal presi - tyrdom on the part of Catholics. The years. Neither the 1857 Constitution dent, Be nito Juárez, the groundwork for account of General Socorro Reyes nor the Reform Laws were repealed the conflict between church and state pro vides an excellent example of the but the government chose to ignore during the Revo lution was laid. latter. most of the restrictions placed on the Displaying striking similarities to church. The battle between church the Revolution, the Reform had a de - He was a straightforward and honorable and state had been rehearsed and post - layed impact on the popular classes of man. In all his public declarations he poned only to re-erupt in the 1920s Mexico. Jean Meyer argues that the was frank and truthful, and when asked when the anticlerical legislation ex - Reform Laws of 1859 pitted an unsta - who had encouraged him to take part in pressed in the 1857 Consti tu tion and ble state against a stable church firmly the revolution, he said, “my conscience embodied in the 1917 Consti tution was grounded in continuous tradition. The commanded me.” On being taken to the enforced.

54 History

THE CHURCH and resentment...and your riches and gave Madero cautious support. The ON THE EVE OF REVOLUTION you yourselves will be buried. 8 1857 Constitution could be enforced against the church at any time and the The policy of conciliation represented The traditional role of the church in Catholic leadership sought to contin - a modus vivendi for both the liberal po l - terms of good works was being replaced ue the policy of conciliation initiated iticians and the church. Díaz had sat - by a role of increased social action. With by Díaz. isfied the liberals by retaining the anti - the loss of Díaz, the church, under the Madero’s idealistic stance soon con - clerical laws of the 1857 Cons titution. leadership of the archbishop of Mex - vinced Catholics that conciliation would The fact that these laws were not ico City, formed its own political party fail. As stated in his Presi dential Suc - enforced seemed a moot point. The to stand up against the threat posed by cession , Madero felt that the 1857 Con - church, while aware of its precarious those liberals who sought to enforce the s titution contained the essential ingre - position, began a course of reform that anticlerical laws passed 50 years earlier. dients for an effective state. Díaz had included internal reform, administrative Clearly the church had its own pro - ignored its principles and the natural reorganization, impro ved training of the gram to remedy the social ills of Mex - remedy, according to Madero, was mere - clergy and an increase in their number, ly its implementation. In addition, Ma - the mobilization of the laity, the ex - dero believed that the cardinal remedy pansion of the Catholic press and of for the ills of society was education. Catholic education and the re newal Zapata’s ideas Since the church still provided the of the strength of the church in rural for land distribution majority of and areas. seem similar to the church’s abhorred the 1857 Constitution, its The church even began to address desire to improve the plight reaction was not surprising. A letter to the social problems within Mexico. of Mexican workers. the U.S. State Department sums it up De prived of their privileged legal sta - well. tus, the church looked to the masses for support. With the publication of The Catholic support, which had been the Rerum Novarum , the church had one of Madero’s chief assets, and has an open invitation to foster support by ico. Unfortunately, however, its legal materially strengthened his candidacy, ad dressing the problems of the Mex - standing prevented any direct action. would be withdrawn within the next ican workers. 7 The letter from the When the Revolution broke out in few days on account of Mr. Madero’s Bishop of Querétaro to a wealthy gov - 1910, the church was forced to sacri - policies. 10 ernment official clearly demonstrates fice its social programs and concen - the church’s attempt to remedy social trate on it own survival. Although Madero believed in the problems. 1857 Constitution and its liberal ide ol - ogy, he blindly refused to acknowledge The worker, in return for this terribly REVOLUTIONARIES AND THEIR the church’s strong unifying influence. exhausting labour, receives between 18 ATTITUDE TOWARD THE CHURCH When the Catholic party withdrew its and 25 centavos a day, which is paid support, Madero lost 40 percent of his partly in seeds and partly in cash, and Madero’s entry into Mexico City in strength. 11 even with these low wages, there are 1911 did not signal the end of the When Huerta seized power and had some landowners who find ingenious Catholic Church in Mexico. Ac cording Madero killed, official Catholic reaction ways of reducing them further.... We to Ramón Eduardo Ruiz, Madero did appeared conciliatory. In fact La Nación , understand Socialism.... You rich men, not carry the banner of a revolutionary the official organ of the Catholic party, there is no other way open: either you but, instead, sought to cleanse the Mex - referred to him as “don Victoriano” and must open your hearts to charity and ican government of its corrupt auto - opposed further revolutionary activity. reduce the hours of work and increase cratic rule by the president and state According to the paper, the road to wages, or you are accumulating hatred governors. 9 The church, therefore, true peace was through the religion of

55 Voices of Mexico • 54 o í l C

l and of having permitted governments to a i r o t i d

E prohibit religious worship and even to /

o c i f

á impose fines for activities that are defi - r g o n o c

I nitely allowed by law, and of having

o v i h c

r grossly outraged the religious sentiments A of the people. 17

This devotion to Catholicism, how - ever, appears suspect. Quirk recounts a story of how Villa treated several priests on his trek toward Mexico City. Trying to learn where the priests had hidden their money, one of Villa’s men, Fierro, locked the priests in one room

The Mexican people preferred the side of the Cristeros to the seemingly barbarous government. and interrogated them in another. In the interrogation room with the other Christ, not rebellion. 12 To the church, plan had no ideological content. Zapata priests listening Huerta represented the restoration of was naive and pa rochial. In fact, while order. In the eyes of the revolutionar - he controlled from 1911-1919 Fierro ordered the priest to reveal where ies, however, the church had commit - the state had no government, no admi n - the Jesuits kept their buried treasures. ted the unpardonable sin of being istration, and no schools. 14 The priest insisted that they had no trea - identified with military reaction, ter - Concerning the church, Zapata’s sures.... Fierro repeated his question. The rorism and debauchery. stance seemed ambiguous. He is de - priest was silent. Fierro fired his pistol.... While the church gave support to s cribed as a conservative Catholic who As death loomed large in their [the priests Huerta, Emiliano Zapata, Francisco Vi - wanted no quarrel with religion or the in the adjoining room] hearts they prayed lla and Venustiano Carranza were una - church. At the same time he could for the departed soul.... One after another nimous in their opposition to the shoot a priest without hesitation. 15 In they were led from the room, and the suc - “usurper.” Their common condemna - the eyes of the church, Za pata was an cession of noises was repeat ed. As the last tion of Huerta, however, was the only anarchist who represented the excess - priest was dragged into the adjoining room, thing that united these men. Zapata es of the Revolution. Beyond his pro - he found all the priests, not dead, as he was an uneducated rebel of lower- gram of land distribution, Zapata had expected, but huddled silently together. 18 class origin. Ruiz calls him no agenda. There fore, he was neither supported by nor an ardent supporter Villa, while often using these scare- A complex man of simple revolutionary of the church. tactics, never personally engaged in faith... [who] never captured the imagi - Unlike Zapata’s take-it-or-leave-it religious persecution and even inter - nation or loyalty of the man on the attitude concerning the church, Villa vened to save several priests from the street. He was always a provincial fig - was a staunch clerophobe. He once told firing squad. ure.... only Zapata truly made the plight an American reporter that he believed The leader most associated with per - of the rural poor his special passion. 13 in God, but not in religion. 16 After his secution of the church was Ca rranza. break with Carranza, however, Villa Leading the fight against Huerta, he Zapata’s ideas for land distribution, reversed his attitude and became a and the Constitutionalists concluded described in his Ayala Plan, seem to be defender of the church. In a letter to that the 1857 Consti tu tion had legally similar to the Church’s desire to im prove Carranza he writes: decided the church-state issue. His only the plight of the Mexican worker as responsibility was to insure that those described by the bishop of Que rétaro. I accuse you of destroying freedom of principles of separation and subordina - As Quirk points out, however, Zapata’s conscience by persecuting the Church, tion were carried out.

56 History S E D A

Meyer states that the Carrancistas D E V O N /

believed that the priests had turned the n ó m i L

people against them by their own pro - o i n o t n paganda, and that all enemies were in A the pay of bishops. 19 He abhorred the accumulation of wealth he saw in the church. His plan for saving Mexico not only involved returning to a constitu - tional order, but also supporting a more equitable distribution of wealth. 20 In - famous for its cruelty, Carranza’s army was feared by both supporters and non- supporters of the church.

The strong opposition found by the The 1917 Constitution placed severe restrictions on religious practices in Mexico. Cons titutionalists in some cities under the form of social armed defenses was not a sign of sympathy toward Huerta, aged a radical change in the social fab - sions every aspect of but it was occasioned by a kind of hor - ric of Mexico. Speaking to the Congress was subjugated to the supervision of ror toward the revolutionary soldiers, his attitude was clear: the state. No longer could priests hear whom the Catholic clergy made appear confession or legally perform a marriage bandits who intended to take posses - I am a foe of the clergy, because I con - ceremony. Not only were state legisla - sion of towns and villages in order to sider it the most disgraceful and perverse tures made responsible for deter mining rob, loot, violate and murder. 21 enemy of our people. What has the cler - the number of priests in a locality, but gy given...our nation? The most absurd priests could not speak or publish any - Of the three main sources of oppo - ideas, the greatest contempt for our thing dealing with national political sition to Huerta, Carranza was the most democratic institutions, the most unre - matters or “public information.” In ad - anticlerical. When he deposed Huerta lenting hatred for the very principles of dition, members of religious groups were and assumed power in 1917, the church equity, equality, and fraternity taught by banned from political participation and was to pay dearly. the first democrat, Jesus Christ.... What from owning or inhabiting land without sort of morality, gentlemen, will the cler - government consent. 24 gy teach our children? We have seen it Church leaders, however, did not THE CONSTITUTION OF 1917 —the greatest corruption... 22 accept the new Constitution passively. Those clergy who remained in Mexico The victory of Carranza in 1913 sig - The resulting document was more and those who had fled the religious naled the death knell for the indepen - repressive and restricting to the church persecution were mobilizing support dent church in Mexico. The church’s than the 1857 Constitution. in the United States and in Rome to support of the counter-revolutionary Although the new Constitution guar - defend the traditional rights of the Huerta and Carranza’s personal atti - anteed the freedom of religious beliefs, church. In addition, as Meyer points tudes regarding religion would greatly it placed severe restrictions on religious out, Mexican anticlericalism, though influence the Constitutional Con gress, practice. Article 24 stated that every the work of a minority, was that of a which met in Querétaro in late 1916. religious act of public worship must be minority in power. 25 Most The chairman of the Consti tutional performed inside churches, which were were Catholics who had no desire to Com mittee, Francisco J. Mújica, not under governmental supervision. 23 The see their religious rituals changed. When only represented the liberalism of the most devastating for the church, how - the ruling anticlerical minority sought nineteenth century, but also encour - ever, was Article 130. Under its provi - to impose their liberal ideology on the

57 Voices of Mexico • 54

Catholic majority a clash was inevi table. support of not only American Catholics, The church’s constitutional opposi - In fact, the Catholic response was, but also the U.S. government. tion within Mexico came from a very arguably, one of the only instances of a Shortly after the Constitution had unlikely candidate. Francisco Orozco y true revolutionary character in the Mex - been adopted, an assembly of the Amer - Jiménez, the archbishop of Guada la - ican Revolution. ican Federation of Catholic Societies jara, was described as a proud aristo - in Kansas City adopted a resolution crat. Although he used his funds for condemning it. 28 In addition, the U.S. religious and public improvements, one THE CATHOLIC “R EVOLUTION ” bishops, meeting in Was h ington, drew of his fellow priests called him “a great up a similar letter of protest. Although prelate-politician in the court of a me - When Carranza seized power in Mex - it was not sent to President Wilson dieval monarch.” 30 Quirk, in fact, calls ico City, the archbishop, José Mora y because many believed that he was his attitude toward the lower classes del Río, who had supported the dicta - too preoccupied with the European kindly, but condescending. 31 Despite torship of Huerta fled to the United war to concern himself with Mexican his attitudes and up bringing, he was a States where he led the exiled Catholic affairs, it did demonstrate growing tireless defender of the rights of the opposition to Carranza and the 1917 church. While other priests fled Mexi co Constitution. In a collective letter of to gather support abroad, Orozco y Jimé - protest to the Mexican people the Pancho Villa nez remained in building sup - exiled leaders stated that they had no never personally port for the church and calling on the desire to meddle in political matters. engaged in religious faithful to denounce the Constitution. They maintained, however, that they persecution and even could not accept a constitution so con - Now is the time to revive within our - saved several priests trary to God’s law. The bishops pledged selves the true Catholic spirit, to elimi - to work within the law to change the from the firing nate all compromise with modern errors, existing conditions between the church squad. which are condemned by the Church, and the Mex ican government. and to separate the chaff from the wheat. Mora y del Río backed up the protest Then the splendor of high Christian in a Pastoral Letter to his archdio - concern fo r the Mexican church by virtue will shine forth; then the enemies cese. The church was “a perfect soci - U.S. Catholics. of the Church will recognize and glorify ety, founded by God himself,” he said, The reasons for concern temporari - God and His Christ! 32 and, because of its origins, was “inde - ly subsided, however, as President Ca- pendent of every human power.” 26 rranza found himself focused on Mex - If revolution can begin from conser - According to Mora y del Río, no man ico’s worsening economic situation. He vative or right-wing elements then had the right to oppose the divine con - was, in fact, criticized by the radicals Oroz co y Jiménez must be labeled a stitution of the church or attack its because he not only ignored the radi - revolutionary. He not only challenged rights. From Rome, Benedict XV con - cal articles of the Consti tution, but he established authority, but he also demned the new Constitution and ex - also wanted to revise Article 3 so that launched a successful campaign of pas - pressed his approval of the actions of private or church education could re - sive resistance in Jalisco which even - the Mexican bishops. “Some of the lieve the inadequate and under-fund - tually led to his capture and expulsion articles of the new law,” stated the pon - ed public education system. 29 While the from Mexico. tiff, “ignore the sacred rights of the Catholic situation may, in appearance, In July 1918 the situation between church, while others openly contradict have temporarily subsided, the opposi - church and state came to a head in them.” 27 With the support of Rome, tion to Mexico’s Constitution did not. Jalisco as the state legislature made it the Catholic leaders began an aggres - While some, like Mora y del Río, sought necessary for priests to register and sive campaign against the government to resurrect the rights of the c hurch obtain permission before holding reli - in Mexico. In fact, the battle became in - diplomatically, those within Mex ico gious services. 33 This law which placed ternational as they attempted to enlist the began to employ revolutionary tactics. the church directly under the control of

58 History

the state and the offending articles message to church leaders: revolu - Like Díaz and Carranza, Obregón of the 1917 Constitution prompted tionary laws could be modified. was granting the church its traditional church leaders to condemn the gov - In 1920, after the death of Ca rran - rights and privileges in spite of the le - ernment’s Jacobin policies. za, Alvaro Obregón became president gality of such measures. The most strik - of Mexico. As Quirk points out, Obre - ing constitutional violation was Obregón’s The Committee has asserted that we gón’s presidency began a new radical consent for a public ceremony to erect must prevent the distorted interpreta - phase of reform. 35 Unlike his prede - a monument to Christ the King near tions which are the result of religious cessors who embraced nineteenth-cen - León, the geographic center of Mexico. instruction...but this does not go far tury liberal political views, Obregón When the ceremony took place in enough; it should follow the logic of its con centrated on social and economic 1923 thousands of Catholics attended Jacobin premises; it should not be con - reform. In an address to the archbish - to, in the words of Quirk, recognize tent...with smashing the images of the ops and bishops in 1923 he said, “The Christ as supreme Sovereign and King. 38 Saints, pulling the rosaries to pieces, present social program of the Gov ern - The symbolism of this apparent counter - tearing down the Crucifixes, getting rid ment is essentially Chris tian, and it is revolutionary religious ceremony stands of Novenas and suchlike frivolities, in stark contrast to the revolutionary shutting the door against the priests, aims of the government. and abolishing freedom of association Archbishop Mora If, as it has been proposed, men like so that nobody can go to Church to Carranza and Obregón are true revolu - y del Río proclaimed make contact with the clergy; it should tionaries, why did they permit the tra - destroy religious freedom altogether, Article 130 and the entire ditional church customs, which are and after that, in an orgy of sated intol - Constitution contrary termed counter-revolutionary, to con - erance, the committee will be able to to religious tinue? Counter-revolution in any form promulgate this one article: in the Mex- freedom. or for any reason is always the enemy ican Republic there will only be guar - of the revolutionary. The government’s antees for those who think as we do. 34 revolving door of prohibition and toler - ance would eventually cause a role Refusing to abide by the new legis - complementary to the fundamental reversal where the church would lead lation, the priests in Jalisco decided to program of the Catholic Church.” 36 a revolution from the right and the withdraw from all the churches until Although it appears that he tried to leftist reformers would have no choice the government withdrew its order. make peace with the church, Obregón but to yield. According to Quirk, this movement of was merely using the church’s system passive resistance proved effective. As of education until the public system public religious activity ceased, the peo - could be established and funded. When THE CRISTERO REVOLT ple, robbed of their access to the tra - questioned about the legality of his ditional sacraments, actively support - position, Obregón replied As the government violated its own ed the church. Catho lics in Jalisco constitution in order to stabilize the or ga nized an economic boycott that Yes, it is illegal, and we are not una - si tuation in Mexico, the church re- corresponded to the church strike. ware of the menace of these Catholic grouped and prepared for a showdown. From August 1918 through March schools, whose aim is to inculcate anti - Although not ready for a conflict with 1919, churches as well as many busi - government and antirevolutionary pro - the state, by 1926 the church gave the nesses in Jalisco stood empty and paganda. But at the present there is appearance of an unassailable fortress silent. Bowing to economic pressure, not money enough, nor facilities for of unalterable and irrefutable truth. the state legislature rescinded Decree the government to teach all Mexican When Obregón stepped down, howev - 1927 and priests and laymen ended children. It is preferable that they re - er, he handed the presidency to Plu - their strike. By giving in, however, the ceive any instruction, rather than grow tarco Elías Calles, a revolutionary gen - state government had sent a clear up illiterate. 37 eral and obstinate enemy of the church.

59 Voices of Mexico • 54

The Obregonian period of conciliation the Catholics, proclaimed an econom - cism fell into the hands of laymen, had given way to a period of strict ic boycott. As Quirk points out, how - especially the National League. As the adherence to the revolutionary laws. ever, the poor harvest of 1926 and the church hierarchy faded into the back - In late 1925 many state legislatures general economic problems within Mex - ground, the movement against the began the implementation of the anti - ico diminished its effectiveness. government took on a more recogniz - clerical Article 130. Immediately, Arch - Mexican Catholics did receive sup - ably rev olutionary appearance. They bishop Mora y del Río re-proclaimed port from U.S. Catholics. In a col- embraced the banner of Christ and the article and the entire Constitution lective pastoral letter, the American the battle cry “Viva Cristo Rey” (Long contrary to liberty and religious teach - bish ops stressed the virtues of the Live Christ the King). Their enemies ings. Calles seized this opportunity to Amer ican system of toleration. In ad- dubbed them “Cristeros,” and it is by attack the church on two fronts. First, dition, they stated that “all men, Mex- this name that the Catholic revolu - Mora y del Río was brought to trial for icans included, are endowed by their tionaries came to be known. his remarks, and second, the president creator with certain unalienable rights, While the rebels gained small suc - would immediately implement not that among these are Life, Li berty, cesses by blowing up trains, bridges only Article 130 but also Article 3 and stealing mail, the government was which prohibited schools operated by never in serious danger of defeat. The the church. Calles’ actions proved to be rebels’ determination was encouraged, With the support the breaking point for the church. however, when the Vatican refused to Church officials decided that begin - of Rome, Catholic leaders sanction any compromise with the Mex - ning August 1, no religious ceremonies began an aggressive campaign ican government. Osser vatore Romano , or services of any kind would be con - against the government. the semiofficial voice of the Holy See, ducted in the churches of Mexico until In fact, the battle became announced that there could be “no ac - the anticlerical laws had been amend - international. commodation whatever” with the ed. The church was on strike. “unjust” Mexican laws. 41 Papal support, Calles, however, did not count on the however, did not diminish the deter - church re ceiving popular support. Ac - mination of President Calles who im - cording to Meyer, the people were not plemented Article 130 by presidential always sure why the churches were and the Pursuit of Hap pi ness.” 40 Calls decree in late 1926. closing. What they did understand was for American-type religious tol erance Catholic leaders soon realized that that they would be denied access to the were not end orsed by Mexican bish - the only effective means for change lay traditional sacraments of the church, ops. They held fast to a medieval doc - outside Mexico. The bishop of Tabas - the most unifying aspect of popular Mex - trine of the primacy of the Catholic co, Pascual Díaz, who had been de - ican culture. As a result, the strike took religion in their country. To them it ported for anti-revolutionary activity in on a crusading spirit against the gov - was a question of restoring traditional early 1927 headed up the campaign to ernment. rights. It was the restoration of a reli - gain foreign support for the Catholic gious system that had operated in Mex - cause. Díaz viewed the U.S. oil man Better to die than deny Christ the King, ico for centuries. They desired a true William Buckley as a solution to the without fearing martyrdom or death, in revolution. crisis. Buckley could not only supply whatever form it might come! Sons, do At the end of 1926 it was apparent funds for the Cristeros, but also, not be cowards! Rise up and defend a that the economic boycott had failed. because of the American oil interests just cause! At the same time, everybody In addition, the Mexican Congress re - in Mexico, pressure the U.S. govern - was repeating in chorus the cries of fused to consider the Catholic’s de - ment to intervene on behalf of the “Long Live Christ the King!” 39 mands. The only choices open to the Catholics. When the National League church were surrender or revolt. Since refused to allow Buckley to use the In addition to the church strike, the the bishops could not advocate armed Cristeros, Díaz went to Rome. Unfor - National League, the political arm of rebellion, the fate of Mexican Catho li - tunately, the Vatican could not afford

60 History

to provide money for the Catholic cause THE SEMANTICS OF THE MOVEMENT gram that included social action and a in Mexico. The Vati can did issue a state- system for working with Mexico’s sec - ment demanding that Calles “mend In the late nineteenth and early twenti - ular leaders. his ways.” As Quirk states, however, eth centuries the Mexican Catholic The church had effectively asserted “The Vatican in 1928 lived in a dream Church was considered one of the most its diminishing power. When the world, believing that the head of a sec - progressive. Obviously, one reason for churches reopened after almost three ular state would still heed the words of this classification is the fact that, for most years of silence, the Mexican people a pope.” 42 Calles was not a medieval of the period, the church took a defen - flocked into them for days. The bishops monarch concerned with the welfare sive stand against liberal and radical and other church leaders must have of his soul. anticlerical ideologies. From the stand - been proud of their accomplishments. Foreign influence, however, was not point of the church, the Rev olution of The church had, however, regained only doomed. In late 1927, Dwight Mo- 1910 was not a revolution but merely a fraction of its former power. It re - rrow came to Mexico as the new U.S. an enforcement of laws already in exis - mained, in fact, under direct state con - ambassador. Although his main con - tence. While Ruiz is correct in labeling trol. Despite these limitations, the Mex - cern was the question of U.S. oil hold - ican church had entered the modern ings in Mexico, he did act as a peace - age. Mexico had experienced an indus - 43 maker in the church-state conflict. American bishops trial surge in the final years of the nine - Morrow, who quickly became a trust - teenth century. The church, with its stressed the virtues of the ed friend of Calles, was convin ced medieval outlook, stood as an obstacle American system of tolerance, that re solving the religious con tro versy to modernization. Although it fought to would improve Mexico’s in terna tional but for Mexican bishops the retain its former status, it ultimately standing. In fact, he pro posed that issue was getting their failed to attain its goals. some of the laws might destroy the traditional rights As in all revolutions, the years after identity of the Church in Mexico and back. the Cristero episode marked the begin - worsen relations with the papacy. By ning of the Thermidor for the Mexican late 1928 Calles, who was in desper - Revolution. While the Me xican Catho - ate need of loans from the United lic Church retained a powerful spiritu - States, weakened his position against 1910 a rebellion, he fails to consider al hold over Mexican society, it lost all the Church. Although the Constitu- the reaction of the church in the early legal power. The location of churches tion was not changed, he did provide 1920s. The church wanted to go back and governmental buildings in most some assurances. to a time when it had exercised great Mexican towns and cities provides a In the end, Morrow provided a set - power. It desired a classic “revolution.” At reminder, today, not only of the church’s tlement acceptable to both sides. The first the church sought redress through lost status, but also its failed revolu tion. despised registration law for priests peaceful methods. When these proved The words of a Mexican short story pro - was reinterpreted to mean that the ineffective, it was forced to adopt rev - vide a good description. state could not appoint or assign olutionary measures. priests who had not been assigned by In the final analysis, the Catholics, In the middle of the white dust he ap - their hierarchical superiors. In addi - although labeled counter-revolution - peared, at once, the black point of a tion, religious instruction could take aries, were the true revolutionaries of disheveled corpse, sad, persecuted.... He place within church confines. Finally, the Mexican Revolution. Not only was blind with anguish, a pale green a general am nesty was agreed on as did the Cristeros employ violent mea - mass. On all sides he had been beaten. 45 was a decision to return confiscated sures, but they also sought foreign church residences. In the words of sup port and intervention. It was, in Portrayed in the words of a Mex - Quirk, “the strike ended with a modus fact, foreign in tervention that resolved ican novelist, this was the vision of vivendi , an agreement to disagree the church-state conflict. In addition, the Mexican church after the Rev - peacefully.” 44 the church had a clear ideological pro - olution. Like most intellectuals, José

61 Voices of Mexico • 54

Revueltas criticized the Revolution 10 “Embassy of the United States of America, Mexican Crisis of 1927: A Debate Between Mexico to the Secretary of State, Washing ton, Norman Thomas and John A. Ryan,” The for its lack of social reform. In his September 2, 1911,” Gene Z. Hanrahan ed., Catholic Historical Review 95 (October 1959), work, Dios en la tierra (God on Earth), Documents on the Mexican Revolution , vol. 3 pp. 309-326. Revueltas seems to support the church (Salisbury, N.C.: Docu mentary Publica tions, 1978), pp. 42-43. 29 Quirk, op. cit., p. 103. as the only true revolutionary force.

In the end, however, he characterizes 11 “Memorandum of Mr. Dearing’s interview 30 Jesús García Gutiérrez, “Calumnia. Que algo the church as a transparent liquid that with President De la Barra on September 5th queda,” Todo , 17 January 1946, p. 40. 1911, Re: Political Manifestations,” Han rahan, had the ability to provide life to the op. cit., pp. 49-50. 31 Quirk, op. cit., p. 105. people but ended by betraying them 12 La Nación (Mexico City), 20 February 1913, to the state. Although God, according to 32 Francisco Orozco y Jiménez, Memoir, as quot - p. 3. Re vueltas, had been a force in Mex - ed in Quirk, op. cit., p. 106. ico, the church’s betrayal caused Him 13 Ruiz, op. cit., p. 200. 33 This law (Decree 1927) virtually severed the and the Rev olution to pass away with - Mexican Church in Jalisco from any mean - 14 out accomplishing anything. Quirk, op. cit., p. 42. ingful relationship with Rome.

15 Ruiz, op. cit., p. 204. 34 Diario de los debates del Congreso consti tuyente, as quoted in Meyer, op. cit., p. 14. 16 Quirk, op. cit., p. 42. 35 In fact Quirk terms the period from 1920- NOTES 17 Murray, op. cit., p. 301. 1924 “The Obregonian Renaissance.” Quirk, op. cit., p. 112. 18 Quirk, op. cit., p. 53-54. 1 Robert E. Quirk, The Mexican Revolution and 36 19 Meyer, op. cit., p. 13. Narciso Bassols, Obregón (Mexico City: the Catholic Church (Bloomington: Indiana Editorial Nuestro Tiempo, 1968), pp. 165-167. University Press, 1973), p. 8. 20 Carranza believed in the strict enforcement of the 1857 Constitution, which barred priests 37 Obregón as quoted in Quirk, op. cit., p. 120. 2 John Rutherford, Mexican Society During the from any effective political role. Revolution, A Literary Approach (Oxford: 38 Clarendon Press, 1971), p. 279. Quirk, op. cit., pp. 132-133. 21 Luis Cabrera, “The religious question in Mexico,” quoted in The Purposes and Ideals of 39 3 Meyer, op. cit., p. 49. Jean A. Meyer, The Cristero Rebellion: The the Mexican Revolution (Philadelphia: The Mexican People Between Church and State, American Academy of Political and Social 40 1926-1929 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univer - Science, 1917), p. 13. Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Episcopate sity Press, 1990), pp. 5-6. of the United States on the Religious Situa - tion in Mexico, as quoted in Quirk, op. cit., 22 ”Diario de los debates,” El Pueblo (Mexico p. 185. 4 Ibid., p. 6. City), 17 December 1916, p. 2.

41 Jesús García Gutiérrez, “Peor está que esta - 5 Ciro Ceballos, Aurora y ocaso. Historia de la 23 , 1917 (Washington, ba,” Todo , 14 October 1954, p. 37. revolución de Tuxtepec, as quoted in Meyer, D. C.: Pan American Union, 1968), p. 8. op. cit., p. 7. 42 24 Ibid., pp. 57-58. Quirk, op. cit., p. 232. 6 Paul Murray, The Catholic Church in Mexico, 43 vol. 1 (Mexico City: Editorial EPM , 1965), 25 Meyer, op. cit., p. 30. Following Theda Skocpol’s argument, the p. 301. influence of foreign powers placed the Cristero revolt in an international context 26 José Mora y del Río, Instrucción pastoral, as 7 and, therefore, brings it closer to a true revo - Interestingly, while the Catholic Congresses quoted in Quirk, op. cit., p. 100. between 1903 and 1909 addressed this ques - lution. See Theda Skocpol, States and Social tion, the revolutionaries never directly focused Revolutions (Cambridge: Cambridge Unive r - 27 Pope Benedict XV , Carta a los arzobispos y obis - on the plight of Mexican workers. sity Press, 1979), pp. 14-22. pos de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, as quot - ed in Jesús García Gutiérrez, “La Iglesia mexi - 44 8 Banegas y Galván, Bishop of Querétaro, as cana y los constituyentes,” Todo , 23 September Quirk, op. cit., p. 245. quoted in Meyer, op. cit., p. 9. 1954, p. 20. 45 José Revueltas, “Dios en la tierra,” in El cuen - 9 Ramón Eduardo Ruiz, The Great Rebellion: 28 For an excellent look at the dialogue between to hispanoamericano, ed. Seymour Menton Mexico 1905-1924 (New York: W. W. Norton Mexican and American Catholics see Fran - (Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica, and Company, 1980), p. 143. cis L. Broderick, ed., “Liberalism and the 1986), p. 264.

62