Cristero War

[JimG]

Catholicism in Mexico was not a new and unrecognized upstart religion. Catholicism in Mexico had a long history going back centuries. When the socialist revolutionary government took over, it hated religion and attempted to virtually eradicate the Church along with all religion. It is not surprising that Catholics resisted that attempt, just as the Catholic peasants of the Vendee resisted the French Revolution’s attempt to destroy the Church and close their local parishes and monasteries.

Here is an excerpt from the NY Times review of the film:

“But the diplomacy is just a footnote to the struggle for religious freedom. The conflict, which had been simmering for years, erupted when the Mexican president, Plutarco Elias Calles) expanded and began brutally enforcing the anticlerical laws of the country’s 1917 constitution. Early scenes show soldiers on horseback breaking into churches, killing priests and destroying church property. Dead bodies are strung up along railroad tracks.”

movies.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/movies/for-greater-glory-traces-mexicos-cristero-war.html

 

[Gabriel_Serafin]

Yes, this is true. But did the early martyrs spill a drop of the blood of the Romans? Nary a drop!

I don’t think that would have been possible, being they were under the crushing power of the ironclad Roman military, who were persecuting them specifically because of their faith in Christ. The Jewish people in Nazi Germany found themselves under the military colossus of Nazi Germany and were being exterminated because of their race, and likewise, as the Christians really had no recourse to self defense. Much like if your home was invaded by a platoon of heavily armed attackers, you would have no recourse but to follow their orders. During the Cristero wars there were plenty of martyrs who were killed for the faith, and many have been beatified, as was 14 year old Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio who was tortured and died for refusing to deny Christ; but the men and women who could do something in defense of the people who were being killed, took arms and pushed the enemy back. It was their courage and sacrifice, under the banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Sacred Heart of Christ that Mexicans were able to regain their basic religious freedoms they enjoy today.

My point was that it was not until Christians started becoming the economic and military majority in Europe that they used military power against heresies and against opponents to Christianity (like the Moslems who conquered Spain and almost conquered France). Because we had the power to protect the faith in the areas where it was being attacked.

I suppose if one finds himself surrounded by a viciously armed enemy with an intent on your extermination, you have no other recourse than to a complete abandonment to the will of God. But realize that the Cristero wars were fought by Catholics in a Catholic country that was under a masonic military government. During the Cristiada, 95% of the population of Mexico was Catholic. So when churches were being turned into stables for animals and government soldier’s horses, and priests were being slaughtered, and atheism was to be inculcated in the minds of the young, farmers and ranchers and the sons and daughters from the small towns rose in defense of their faith under the banner of Christ, with their battle cry Viva Cristo Rey.

We did not have the military power to protect ourselves from persecution in the 200s, so we kept spreading Christianity peacefully throughout the Empire, and let it persecution wash over our backs like rain on a duck’s, even when it meant death.

The problem, especially today, is that many Christians in comfortable western countries are often too afraid to stand up for Christ merely out of fear of public opinion; one wonders what would happen if a real, bloody persecution invaded our homes and our churches. But in the early centuries, many early Christians denied Christ in order to escape the wild beasts that would have chewed their flesh for food. The thought of becoming a live flaming torch which burned human flesh for lighting the spectacle of horrors which entertained the crowds into the night was too much to bear.

http://www.swordofthespirit.net/bul...rg/txt/complot/manueldearbues/decapitados.jpg

 

[TarkanAttila]

During the Cristiada, 95% of the population of Mexico was Catholic.

I KNOW. I was not at all saying the Cristero Wars were wrong at all. I was just making an observation about the EARLY MARTYRS, not the Cristero Wars or anyone else!

We should fight if we can! If we must.

 

[mariospeed]

From Augustine’s SUMA:

“First, the authority of the sovereign by whose command the war is to be waged. For it is not the business of a private individual to declare war, because he can seek for redress of his rights from the tribunal of his superior. Moreover it is not the business of a private individual to summon together the people, which has to be done in wartime.”

How can there ever be a just rebellion, since by definition, it would have no sovereign leader?

 

[Matilda_Bennett]

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