As part of the commemoration of the centenary of the Cristero War in Mexico, the bishop of Zacatecas, Sigifredo Noriega Barceló, urged the faithful to deepen their knowledge of their Catholic faith in order to know how to defend it.
The Cristero War, also known as the “Cristiada,” was an armed conflict that erupted in 1926 after President Plutarco Elías Calles tightened the enforcement of the anticlerical articles contained in the 1917 constitution.
This was done through the so-called Calles Law, which imposed severe restrictions on religious life. In response, on July 31, 1926, the Mexican bishops suspended public worship throughout the country. Subsequently, the federal government responded with an intensified persecution of Catholics.
According to the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, there were “more than 200,000 martyrs who gave their lives defending their faith: children, young people, and the elderly; peasants, laborers, and professionals; priests, religious, and laypeople.”
‘Defend your faith by knowing it better’
During the 120th plenary assembly of the Mexican bishops, held from April 13–17, one of the topics addressed was the Cristero War.
In an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, Noriega explained that the Catholic Church is currently engaged in a “plan to recover the memory” of the war, with the aim of reflecting on “the significance” of the Cristiada “at that time, and the implications it holds for our own time.”
The bishop recalled that many who died remained “faithful even to the point of risking their lives.”
He lamented that, 100 years later, it appears that for many Catholics “the religious principles governing our lives are not as solid” and therefore emphasized the need to strengthen formation in the faith and in the events that forged the Church in the country.
In that context, he said the call that those who defended the Catholic religion at that time would make today is: “defend your faith by knowing it better.”
He said Catholics should use this knowledge to reflect on how to prevent history from repeating itself so that “it will no longer be necessary to take up any kind of arms to defend religious freedom, to defend the principles and values that define us.”
Finally, the bishop called for the recognition — with admiration — of those “individuals who gave their lives, who confronted these situations that were touching and upending the very depths not only of a belief but of life itself.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.