The Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM) announced on Monday, November 9, during the solemn Mass celebrated at the Basilica of Guadalupe that opened its CXXI Plenary Assembly, a Jubilee Year for the centenary of the beginning of the Cristero Resistance (1926-2026). The president of the CEM, Ramón Castro Castro, bishop of Cuernavaca, announced that Pope Leo XIV has granted the jubilee at the request of the bishops, together with the Apostolic Penitentiary, which grants a plenary indulgence to the faithful during this time.
The Jubilee Year will begin on November 22, 2026, the solemnity of Christ the King, and will conclude on November 21, 2027. On that first day, the bishops will read in their dioceses the decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary granting the indulgence. The chosen motto is “Their faith, our memory and their witness, our mission,” and Castro Castro expressed the desire that it be “a true time of conversion,” according to the Archdiocese of Mexico on its Desde la Fe portal.
Conditions of the indulgence and jubilee sites
To gain the plenary indulgence, the faithful must make a sacramental confession, receive communion, and pray for the Pope’s intentions, in addition to being, according to the text, “truly repentant and moved by charity.” The indulgence may also be applied for the deceased faithful. During the year, Catholics may make a pilgrimage to the jubilee churches, to the sanctuary of Christ the King on the Cerro del Cubilete, or to any shrine in the country dedicated to the Mexican martyrs.
It will be up to each diocesan bishop to determine the jubilee churches and the pastoral provisions in his territory. In the Archdiocese of Mexico, among others, the parish of the Holy Family in the Roma Norte neighborhood, where the remains of Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro rest, and several parishes and rectorates dedicated to Christ the King have been designated.
Request for religious freedom to the authorities
In their communiqué, the bishops recalled that the 1926 conflict was triggered by the entry into force of the so-called Calles Law, and highlighted the witness of the martyrs, families, priests, and consecrated persons who remained faithful. They thanked the Pope and the Apostolic Penitentiary for the concession, which they described as a special grace for the Church in Mexico.
The CEM also asked the authorities to guarantee the full exercise of religious freedom, a right that, they affirmed, arises from the dignity that God grants to every person and that includes celebrating, transmitting, and living the faith both at home and in public life.
The centenary has already seen other events
The anniversary has already prompted several commemorations. At the end of August, the Cerro del Cubilete hosted the central events for the one hundred years since the beginning of the Catholic resistance, as reported by InfoVaticana, and the UPAEP Museum in Puebla is maintaining throughout 2026 the exhibition “When Faith Challenged Power,” dedicated to the history of persecuted Catholics.