Cristiada: The Mexican People's War for Religious Liberty

About this book

In a world filled with constant religious intolerance and strife it is easy to overlook a little known twentieth-century religious war that was fought on the shores of North America. Taking place in Mexico in the 1920s La Cristiadathe Cristero Warwas the result of repressive anti-religious laws directed at the Catholic Church. After the Mexican Revolution of 1916 the newly drafted Mexican Constitution greatly restricted the function of the Church. It halted Church control of schools banned monastic orders and eliminated religious processions and outdoor masses. By 1926 the government had pushed these laws to the limit and created a rebellion. While the KKK pressed the Mexican Government to crush the rebels the Knights of Columbus sought to end the struggle by peaceful means. In 1929 the American ambassador to Mexico finally helped arrange a nonviolent end to a conflict that had taken the lives of over 90 000 people. In La Cristiada historian Dr. Jean Meyer weaves informative text with hundreds of photographs and illustrations to provide a unique perspective of this terrible period in Mexicos history.