A few months before the centenary of the outbreak of the religious conflict in Mexico (1926-1929), known as the Cristero War or Cristiada, the bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Guadalajara have published a pastoral message that invites us to give reason for our hope, as indicated in the first epistle of Peter (1 Pe 3:15), and to illuminate from faith the historical events that marked the lives of people and the nation.
The document, titled Message from the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Guadalajara on the Occasion of the Centenary of the Religious Conflict in Mexico, signed by Cardinal José Francisco Robles Ortega, Archbishop of Guadalajara, and Auxiliary Bishop Manuel González Villaseñor, is framed within the jubilee route 2025-2026-2031 proposed by the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM) and takes up the spirit of Saint John Paul II in the V Centenary of evangelization.
“To illuminate these events from faith and understand them as Christians, we must first know them with honesty and objectivity, always in the light of the Gospel and the Magisterium”, affirm the prelates. They recognize that the Cristiada constitutes one of these moments and emphasize that there is already a vast series of historiographical investigations that allow analyzing the crisis of power generated by the Revolution, the causes of the persecutions, the Constitution of 1917, the Calles Law, the suspension of worship, the response of the bishops, the Cristero War, the arrangements of 1929, and the subsequent restoration of Church-State relations under President Manuel Ávila Camacho.
What the Jalisco bishops highlight most is the valuable testimony of a great, mature, robust, and committed faith in everyday life seeking peace, religious freedom, and the true progress of peoples. “We are aware of the transcendental role played by the sons of this province during the religious conflict, particularly the great leadership in favor of peace and peaceful and democratic resistance led by the Blessed Anacleto González Flores. We also cannot forget the suffering of all our populations when the armed rebellion broke out, nor overlook the generosity, courage, and good will of the majority of those who took up arms and gave their lives in defense of religious freedom, a difficult decision that, however, we must work to ensure never happens again, for as Pope Francis taught us, ‘War is a defeat for humanity’ (Angelus 7/09/13).
This provincial message arrives a few months after the national document from the CEM, published on November 13, 2025, after its CXIX Plenary Assembly, titled Church in Mexico: Memory and Prophecy – Pilgrims of Hope toward the Centenary of our Martyrs. In it, the bishops of the entire country honored more than 200,000 martyrs – children, youth, elderly, peasants, priests, and laity – and affirmed that they said with their lives what they proclaimed with their lips: Christ is King, not the oppressive State; Christ is King, not the dictator in power wrapped in his pride.
The CEM was clear in stating that the centenary of 2026 cannot be a mere nostalgic commemoration, but must be an examination of conscience and a renewed commitment. They directly ask the faithful if we are willing to defend our faith with the same radicalism. The importance of this centenary lies in the fact that 1926 marked the breaking point of a systematic persecution that sought to relegate faith to the private sphere and subject conscience to state power. The Calles Law, promulgated on July 2, 1926, intensified the anticlerical restrictions of the 1917 Constitution: prohibition of religious education, expulsion of religious from cloisters, drastic limitation of the number of priests, closure of temples, and suspension of public worship starting July 31, 1926. The popular response was massive and spontaneous in the center-west of the country, especially in Jalisco, Michoacán, Colima, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas.
One hundred years later, the bishops see in this feat not only a painful chapter, but a luminous page that challenges the current Church in a Mexico scourged by violence, corruption, and aggressive secularism. Religious freedom, the primacy of conscience, and the defense of human rights remain current challenges.
Various dioceses have already begun to translate this call into concrete actions. For example, in Colima, a broad agenda is being prepared that will formally begin on April 5, 2026, the centenary of the Cristero uprising in the entity, where Bishop Gerardo Díaz Vázquez has convened reflection without generating division to strengthen Christian identity, including a celebratory triduum until 2029 with testimonies and possible monuments.
In Cancún-Chetumal, the First Cristero Congress was organized on February 7, 2026, at the Universidad La Salle Cancún and the parish of San José Sánchez del Río, with speakers such as Father Juan Razo García, Uriel Esqueda, and Father Javier Olivera Ravasi, under the auspices of Apostolic Administrator Pedro Pablo Elizondo Cárdenas.
In Hermosillo, on February 20, 2026, a panel titled 100 Years of the Cristero War was held in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Major Seminary, also commemorating the sorrowful anniversary of Archbishop Juan Navarrete Guerrero.
The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and various academic institutions programmed a seminar with historians such as Jean Meyer, under the title 100 Years of the Cristiada: The Cristero War and the Political Problem of Hispanic American Catholics, held on February 5 and 6, 2026, at the Autonomy Palace of the UNAM Foundation, where Meyer delivered the inaugural lecture.
One of the most highlighted events in this context has been the master lecture given by historian Jean Meyer in the diocese of Aguascalientes, titled Grand Lecture 100 Years of the Cristiada, held in the Dimo Auditorium of that city. Meyer, a recognized expert on the subject and author of fundamental works such as The Cristiada, offered a presentation that delved into the breath that this conflict represented for Christendom, analyzing the roots of the confrontation between the post-revolutionary State and the Catholic Church, as well as its repercussions on Mexican identity.
In his exposition, Meyer emphasized how the Cristiada was not only an armed war, but a popular resistance movement that involved peasants and entire communities in defense of their faith, highlighting figures such as the martyrs and Cristero leaders who embodied a radical commitment to their beliefs. The conference, divided into parts for better understanding, included references to historical documents and oral testimonies, and was organized by the local diocese as part of the centenary activities, attracting a diverse audience that included academics, faithful, and young people interested in Mexico’s religious history. Meyer also connected the past with the present, suggesting that the lessons of the Cristiada are relevant today to face challenges such as secularization and the defense of religious freedom in an increasingly polarized world.
The event with the greatest symbolic impact so far was the National Youth March to the Monument of Christ the King of the Cubilete in Guanajuato, on January 31, 2026, which gathered more than 50,000 young people according to official estimates, although some sources speak of up to 70,000 participants, precisely to rekindle the Cristero memory.
At the end of the Mass, presided over by Apostolic Nuncio Joseph Spiteri and concelebrated by the Archbishop of León Jaime Calderón Calderón, a pastoral reading full of realism and hope was made, reminding that today’s youth are heirs to the Cristero spirit without weapons or war slogans.
Other dioceses such as Tepic have participated actively, sending groups of young people to events such as the march to the Cubilete, while in Piedras Negras, Bishop Alfonso Miranda Guardiola integrated the theme into his New Year 2026 message, calling to be promoters of peace in commemorating the centenary, praying for the victims of violence and building a just nation.
The centenary of the Cristiada is not, therefore, an exclusive matter for historians or nostalgic devotees. It is, as the bishops of Guadalajara affirm, an opportunity to encourage hope in a better future for our homeland, remembering that no one lights a lamp to hide it, according to the Gospel of Luke (Lk 11:33). It is a call for today’s Mexican Catholics, like those of yesterday, to know how to give reason for their hope not only with words, but with a faith embodied in the defense of human dignity, social justice, and religious freedom.
In a country that still carries open wounds of violence and polarization, the Cristero testimony presents itself as a sign of faith. The bishops do not ask for revenge or forgetfulness, but truth, reconciliation, and, above all, fidelity. Long live Christ the King! is no longer just a battle cry from the past; it is a profession of faith for the present and future of Mexico.