AMDG
The year 1917 was a year of turmoil. The United States entered World War I; the atheist Communist Revolution took control of Russia and had its influence even as far off as Mexico. Secular atheist leaders pushed through a new constitution, which severely restricted religious freedom. It was aimed particularly at the Catholic Church. In the midst of this evil Our Lady appeared to the three Children of Fatima with her message of prayer and repentance or worse evils will befall the world. The famous Miracle of the Sun gave her message instant credibility.
In Mexico, a new constitution for
the country had been signed and served as a model for the 1918 Constitution of
Soviet Russia. Five articles of the 1917
Constitution of Mexico were particularly aimed at suppression of the Catholic
Church. Article 3 mandated secular education in schools, prohibiting the Church
from participating in primary and secondary education. Article 5 outlawed
monastic religious orders. Article 24 forbade public worship outside of church
buildings, while Article 27 restricted religious organizations' rights to own
property. Finally, Article 130 took away basic civil rights of members of the
clergy: priests and religious were prevented from wearing their habits, were
denied the right to vote, and were not permitted to comment on public affairs
in the press. Most of the anti-clerical provisions of the constitution were finally
removed in 1998. It was on the books for
81 years.
In the following
years a war against the Church was simmering. In 1921 a terrorist hid a bomb within flowers
and placed it in front of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The bomb blew out all the windows of the
basilica shrine, destroyed an image of St. James near-by and severely bent a
metal cross in front of the image. But
the image and its glass covering was left untouched.
| The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe today. |
 |
| Metal crucifix destroyed in the 1921 bomb blast. |
It’s 1926 and Mexico was ruled by
the virulently anti-Catholic President Plutarco Calles,
a Mason and an atheist, expanded and began brutally enforcing the anticlerical
laws of the 1917 Constitution. Catholic
churches, schools, publications, and its charitable institutions were closed. Hundreds if not thousands of priests and
religious were martyred. Many people
were jailed or even executed for speaking out against the Government. Holy relics, objects, statues, art, and even
the Eucharist itself were often desecrated.
Churches were used as stables and dance halls. Calles once openly boasted: “I have a
personal hatred for Christ”.
Graham
Greene (1904-1991), a best selling British author in his time, wrote two books that
have this period of Mexican history as a backdrop: the 1939 travelogue, “The
Lawless Roads” and arguably his greatest novel in 1940, “The
Power and the Glory”. He called
these persecutions of the 1920s and 1930s “the fiercest persecution of religion
anywhere since the reign of Elizabeth”.
The Knights of Columbus,
being staunchly Catholic and serving the Church, were also targeted by Calles. Numerous knights were jailed and even
executed. About two thirds of the numerous
councils were shut down. The Knights of Columbus pledged to raise $1 million to educate the American public. The vehemently racist and anti-Catholic Ku Klux
Klan countered with $10 million to support the Calles Government.
Pope Pius XI wrote three
encyclicals that condemned these persecutions in the land of Our
Lady of Guadalupe: the 1926 Iniquis
Afflictisque (On the Persecution of the Church in Mexico – See http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_18111926_iniquis-afflictisque_en.html),
Acerba Animi in 1932 (See http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_29091932_acerba-animi_en.html),
and Firmissimam Constantiamque in 1937. The
Pope severely criticized the state's interference in matters of worship,
outlawing of religious orders and the expropriation of Church property. He noted that, "Priests are ... deprived
of all civil and political rights. They are thus placed in the same class with
criminals and the insane."
“Cristero Wars” of
1926-1929. The Catholic response to the Calles regime first took the form of non-violent petitions, suspended religious services and economic boycotts. But bloody popular resistance broke out in 1926. By 1929, 50,000 Cristero rebels were fighting the federal government. A small number of priests took up arms with their people. More than 90,000 persons died in the fighting. In the process, the authorities murdered thousands of Catholic laypeople and hundreds of priests. For some excellent documentaries on the Cristero War, click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ4d6gOZFZ8 in Spanish or click on Cristero War in English. Others include https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ET0lOcjp50,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGBGFS2rZdo,
and a summary of the movie, “For Greater
Glkory, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnPi5cXlVHo
plus a commentary at https://zenit.org/articles/the-cristero-war-the-story-behind-the-cover-up/.
 |
| The Federal soldiers hung martyrs from trees in village squares and telegraph poles along rail lines. |
It
is said that a visionary asked Mary, “Where were you during all this
time”. She answered lovingly, “I was
there all the time”. The famous observation
of Tertullian: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” will
continue to ring true in God’s time perhaps decades later not only in Mexico,
but in the world as people learn about the heroism and conviction of these
martyrs, becoming inspired and strengthened in their faith. The movie, “For Greater Glory” is just one of
these fruits as it brings to light a suppressed and forgotten, but bloody
chapter in Mexican History, literally a battle between good and evil.
As the movie describes, Catholics loyal to the Church rose up against this persecution and tyranny and were called Cristeros Just the same as the Knights of Columbus lobbied Congress for the “under God” insertion in the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, it also lobbied President Coolidge to put a stop to the persecutions. This is the backdrop of the exciting movie with international stars as Peter O'Toole, “For Greater Glory”. The Knights of Columbus helped to underwrite this acclaimed movie. Even the New York Times reviewed it. Simply click on http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/movies/for-greater-glory-traces-mexicos-cristero-war.html?_r=0.
A 1927 Poster: Long live Christ the King. The Liberation Army.
|
During the 1914
persecutions the Wilson administration of the United States did nothing. United States troops were sent to protect
U.S. interests. Although they took some
women religious to the states as refugees, the male religious were left to fend
for themselves. During the Cristero Wars
United States Ambassador Morrow collaborated with President Calles and even
facilitated the purchase of 10,000 rifles, 10 million rounds of ammunition, and
even aircraft. The very anti-Catholic
international Masons with members in the Coolidge administration approved of
their fellow Mason Calles and his bloody policies. Although the Masons have mellowed
considerably over the years, its doctrines and leadership are still anti-catholic
and the Church continues to condemn Freemasonry. To find out why, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7124XflnVY).
A contingent of the Cristero Army.
|
| Another group of Cristero soldiers. |
Blessed Jose Sanchez del Rio,
a passionate and happy youth, had a great love and enthusiasm for the Blessed
Sacrament from an early age and encouraged his friends to have more devotion to
Our Lord and Our Lady of Guadalupe. At
the age of 14 in 1928, he
wrote a letter to the Cristero General Prudencio Mendoza, pleading to be
allowed to be part of the army. They
used him as a gofer for such tasks as taking ammunition to the soldiers as
needed. One day he noticed that the
commander-in-chief, General Gorostieta's horse was shot from under him and was
on foot. At risk to himself, he gave the
general his own horse.
Soon
José was caught by the Federalists. They
put him into a church, turned into a prison.
Four days before his death, he wrote: “I am resigned to the will of
God. I die happy because I die beside
Our Lord. Do not afflict yourselves
because of my death, since to die for God gives me joy.” He was heard saying the rosary and singing
sacred hymns. José not only kept the
faith; he actually desired martyrdom. A
guard kept some of his prized fighting roosters there. Repulsed by this sacrilege, José wrung their
necks.
Blessed
José refused to give information or deny his faith. The soldiers cut off the skin from the soles
of his feet and forced him to walk to the cemetery barefoot. Concerned about their souls, he told his executioners: “I forgive all of you since we are Christians……I
want you all to repent.” After
each torture, each blow with a machete, each stab with a bayonet, Blessed José
cried out: “Viva Cristo Rey! Viva Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe! Long live Christ the King! Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe”. Those were also the last words of this martyr
before he was finally shot on February 10, his feast day. Obtain more detail on his life by clicking on https://www.google.com/#q=Blessed+Jose+Sanchez+del+Rio. Particularly good is
Blessed José Sanchez was one of the chief characters
of the movie described as follows on the cover of the DVD: “In the
exhilarating epic FOR GREATER GLORY, an impassioned group of men and women risk
everything for family, faith, and the very future of the country --as the
film’s adventure unfolds against the long-hidden, true story of the 1920s
Cristero War-- the daring people’s revolt that rocked 20th Century
North America. Academy Award winner Andy
Garcia headlines an acclaimed cast as General Gorostieta, the retired military
man who at first thinks he has nothing personal at stake as he and his wife
(Golden Globe Winner, Eva Longoria) watch Mexico fall into a violent civil war. Yet the man who hesitates in joining the
cause will soon become the resistance’s most inspiring and self-sacrificing
leader, as he begins to see the cost of religious persecution on his
countrymen…….and transforms a rag-tag band of rebels into a heroic force to be
reckoned with. The General faces
impossible odds against a powerful and ruthless government. Yet it is those he meets on the journey
–youthful idealists, feisty renegades, and most of all, one remarkable teenager
named Jose—who reveal to him how courage and belief are forged even when
justice seems lost.”
That’s much better than I can describe the
movie. After seeing the movie twice, I
can only enthusiastically second that description. I can see no essential contradiction with
historical facts. However, the movie
does take some liberties that cause historical inaccuracies in some
details. José never did meet General Gorostieta. He was really the flag bearer for General
Rubén Guízar Morfin. Margaret Galitzin
gives an excellent historical critique of the movie at http://www.traditioninaction.org/movies/016mrCristeroMartyr.htm.
Events that Followed After the End of the Cristero War
The
movie is unclear as to what actually happened later. The Vatican and U.S. diplomacy, naively
trusting the Calles government, brokered a peace in which the president signed
an agreement, promising to modify the laws and stop the persecutions. Although the anti-Catholic laws remained on
the books, religious worship was allowed.
For the sake of peace the Vatican and the Mexican bishops asked the
Cristeros to lay down their arms. Reluctantly,
they obeyed. They felt betrayed because
Calles later rounded up the Cristeros for mass executions. Almost all of their officers were executed…….5000
of them. Ironic was the fact that at the
time, the Cristeros had control of close to three fourths of the country
although the government remained in control
of the cities. The Cristeros were
winning; victory was in sight and it would have been a matter of time before
this dictator would fall as so many had been overthrown in Mexican history.
Overall,
the clergy was decimated…….having been killed or in exile. Christ remained with the Church and the few
priests who remained; seventeen states had no priests at all. Catholic publications and institutions remained
suppressed. Are we in the United States
headed in the same direction where we will be free to worship within the
confines of our homes and church buildings while church institutions are
regulated out of existence?
Through the 1940s and 1950s the
governments continued to mellow and these strict laws
were being enforced less and less. By
April 1965 which I spent in Mexico learning Spanish, these anti-clerical laws
were still on the books, but many were no longer enforced. I was blessed to be placed with a Mexican
family within the same neighborhood as the old Shrine of Our Lady of
Guadalupe. Thousands visited the shrine
every day, many would walk the two hundred or so yards from the entrance to the
altar of the beautiful image on their knees.
Some were organized pilgrimages such as the one which brought a float of
flowers which said: “Estamos a tus pies,
Madrecita (We are at your feet, Mother)”.
On Easter, Indians in traditional native garb danced at the shrine. Nuns and priests were still forbidden from
wearing their religious garb and one of the old churches was still being used
as a warehouse, but there was freedom of worship if not freedom to publish
newspapers, open schools, and run charitable institutions.
By 1998 most of the stringent laws
of 1917 were repealed.
Today Mexico has very secular governments, but there is relative
religious liberty. As always Christ
remains with His Church; as he promised, the gates of hell will never prevail
and the Church in Mexico is reviving while Plutarco Calles and his henchmen are
relegated to the ash heap of history the same as Soviet Communism in Russia. There too the faith is reviving. Today Our Lady of Guadalupe has a new
basilica financed by the money that the people raised.
Most Mexicans don’t know anything
about the Cristero Wars and these violent persecutions
because succeeding governments have kept this chapter of Mexican history out of
the school textbooks. Private Catholic
schools, now allowed to function in Mexico, do however teach that chapter in
Mexican history. In 2012 during his
visit to Mexico Pope Benedict XVI had an open air Mass on one of the
battlefields of the Cristero War.
I suggest that parishes show this great movie, “For Greater Glory” as a Movie
Night with a Cine Forum instead of paying $7.00 to see a trashy movie at the
local cinema. I guarantee that it will
hold you at the edge of your seat. I
often fall asleep during movies, but not this one. Everyone who has seen this movie loved
it. DON’T MISS IT! You can obtain the DVD from Ignatius Press by
clicking on www.ignatius.com
or call 1-800-651-1531. The
edition in Spanish is under the title of “La Cristiada” also at Ignatius or http://www.defiendetufe.com.
We
can identify with the Cristeros to an extent, because our own government
is encroaching upon the religious
freedom of Catholic institutions in regard to the health care mandate on
abortifacients and contraceptives as well as attempting to force Catholic
Charities to arrange for adoptions by gay couples. Catholic nurses who refuse to participate in
abortions have lost their jobs. It won’t
be long before Catholic doctors will be forced to prescribe abortifacients and
drug stores owned by Catholics to sell them.
Priests, who preach against the immorality of the homosexual lifestyle,
will be open to arrest for committing a “hate crime”. The secularists are already advocating that
church property should be taxed. But
unfortunately, most Catholics just go along with it all and continue to vote
for those in power instead of fighting to preserve our precious religious
liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
Michael
J. Miller wrote in the Catholic World Report a beautiful summary of the lesson
to be learned from this great movie: “We Americans in 2012 live in a different
land in a different time. We’re blessed with freedoms the Cristeros could only
imagine. But those freedoms depend on our willingness to defend them. Religious
liberty is never guaranteed by anything but our own vigilance. Even in this
country, contempt for religious faith, and especially the Catholic faith, is
alive and well. For Greater Glory captures with memorable power and grace where
that bigotry can lead—and the cost of resisting it.”
APPENDIX
Archbishop
Chaput Reviews "For Greater Glory"
By Michael J. Miller
Friday, June 01, 2012
Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia is an insightful
commentator on the culture, as he demonstrated in his book Render Unto Caesar:
Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life (2008) and
his recent e-book, A Heart on Fire: Catholic Witness and the Next America. He regularly writes a column (posted at
www.CatholicPhilly.com) in which he addresses current events from a pastoral
perspective. Around Memorial Day, as
vacation season was beginning, he devoted his column to the theme of quality
recreation and “enthusiastically” recommended For Greater Glory as “a film that
no Catholic should miss this summer”.
Written, directed and acted with outstanding skill, it’s the
story of Mexico’s Cristero War (also known as La Cristiada, 1926-29). Largely
ignored until recently—even in Mexico—the war resulted from Mexico’s atheist
constitution of 1917, subsequent anti-religious legislation and fierce
anti-clerical persecution by the government of President Plutarco Elias Calles,
who came to power in 1924.
The Catholic response to the Calles regime first took the
form of non-violent petitions, suspended religious services and economic
boycotts. But bloody popular resistance broke out in 1926. By 1929, 50,000
Cristero rebels were fighting the federal government. A small number of priests
took up arms with their people. More than 90,000 persons died in the fighting.
In the process, the authorities murdered thousands of Catholic laypeople and
dozens of priests.
Blessed Miguel Pro, a Jesuit priest, was executed without
trial in 1927. Blessed Jose Sanchez del Rio, age 14, was shot to death for
refusing to deny his faith in 1928. In both cases, the martyrs’ last words were
Viva Cristo Rey! (Long live Christ the King!) The Church has since honored
dozens of other Mexican martyrs for their heroism during the Calles
persecution.
By 1929, pressured by Cristero success and U.S. diplomacy,
federal authorities agreed to ease some restrictions on the Church and end
violent persecution. Mexico’s bishops accepted the brokered peace. The Cristero
rebellion slowly died out. But the government soon betrayed its promises….
Federal authorities murdered hundreds of former Cristero
leaders and thousands of former Cristero fighters in reprisals. And the
government continued its belligerence against the Church throughout the 1930s—a
campaign of atheist violence and anti-religious hatred that provided the
backdrop for two of Graham Greene’s finest books: his travelogue, The Lawless
Roads (1939), and arguably his greatest novel, The Power and the Glory (1940).
Of course, gripping history does not automatically translate
into good drama. Too many films for the family and religious markets suffer
from lots of good intentions, but a lack of resources, inadequate talent and
weak professional skills. For Greater
Glory succeeds where so many similar films have failed.
Archbishop Chaput praises the “superb” cast and a screenplay
that “gives them the kind of robust material they need to work with: strong
dialogue, fully developed characters, vivid moral conflicts in a time of
revolutionary violence, and a compelling story”.
For Greater Glory is … an extraordinary portrait of ordinary
people struggling to defend their convictions. It’s among the most absorbing
films by any director or movie studio that I’ve seen in the past few years.
We Americans in 2012 live in a different land in a different
time. We’re blessed with freedoms the Cristeros could only imagine. But those
freedoms depend on our willingness to defend them. Religious liberty is never
guaranteed by anything but our own vigilance. Even in this country, contempt
for religious faith, and especially the Catholic faith, is alive and well. For
Greater Glory captures with memorable power and grace where that bigotry can
lead—and the cost of resisting it.
From Catholic World Report | Copyright © 2012 Catholic World
Report All Rights Reserved.
"For Greater Glory" is probably the last film in which Peter O'Toole played. He died on December 14, 2013.
Peter O'Toole, Star Of 'Lawrence Of Arabia,' Dies
Dennis Oulds/Getty Images
Kevork Djansenzian/AP
AP
AP
AP
O'Toole
went on to be recognized as one of the premiere actors of his
generation. He was nominated for eight Oscars, but never won until he
was given an honorary honor in 2003.
O'Toole was born in
Ireland and grew up in Leeds, Yorkshire. O'Toole honed his acting chops
in the London theater, before he beat out Marlon Brando and Albert
Finney for the role of Lawrence of Arabia.
"In a long list of
leading roles on stage and in film, Peter brought an extraordinary
standard to bear as an actor," the President of Ireland, Michael D.
Higgins, said in a statement. "He had a deep interest in literature and a
love of Shakespearean Sonnets in particular. While he was nominated as
Best Actor for an Oscar eight times, and received a special Oscar from
his peers, for his contribution to film, he was deeply committed to the
stage."
At first, O'Toole declined the honorary Oscar,
telling the Academy to hold off until was 80, because he was "still in
the game and might win the bugger outright." At age 79, O'Toole
announced that he was retiring from acting.
O'Toole died in a London hospital following a long illness. He was 81.
They talked about how he got into acting in the 1950s just as he was serving in the Royal Navy. "I
served with men who'd been blown up in the Atlantic, who'd seen their
friends drinking icy bubbles in oil and being machine gunned in the
water," O'Toole told Melissa. "And I mentioned that I wasn't
particularly satisfied with what I was doing in civilian life, which was
working for a newspaper. And the skipper said to me one night, have you
any unanswered calls inside you that you don't understand or can't
qualify? I said, well, yes, I do. I quite fancy myself either as a poet
or an actor. He said, well, if you don't at least give it a try, you'll
regret it for the rest of your life."
We'll leave you with an iconic scene from David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia. Click on the following link:
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