Backgrounders on movie "For Greater Glory"

Backgrounders

Religious Freedom

FOR GREATER GLORY documents Mexico’s Cristero War (1926-29) – a grassroots rebellion against the administration of Plutarco Elias Calles, who sought to restrict – if not eliminate – Catholicism from the country. Sadly, current events from around the world suggest that an old cliché rings true – history does, indeed, repeat itself.

Recently, the Vatican’s permanent observer to the United Nations at Geneva noted in a speech that 70 percent of the world’s population currently lives in countries with high restrictions on religious beliefs.
In Africa and Asia, and in the Middle East, religious persecution continues virtually unabated.
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The Cristero War

Mexico’s Cristero War (1926-29) was a grassroots rebellion against the administration of Plucarto Elias Calles, who provoked the Catholic community by arresting priests and forcing the closure of all churches with military force. He sought to restrict – if not eliminate – Catholicism from the country.
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Blessed José Sánchez del Rio

José Sánchez del Rio was born March 28, 1913, to Macario and Maria Sánchez del Rio. The family lived in Sahuayo, Michoacán, Mexico.

José became a teenager shortly after the Cristero War broke out. His older brothers joined the other Catholics who formed the armed resistance to the government of Mexican President Plutarco Calles, and José begged permission to go with them. His mother ultimately granted her permission, but the youngster also ran into resistance from Cristero General Prudencio Mendoza.
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Feminine Brigades of St. Joan of Arc

Historical accounts report that, just a few months after the Cristero War broke out in earnest, women sympathetic to the Cristero cause – revolting against the Mexican government’s attacks on religious freedom – formed the Feminine Brigades of St. Joan of Arc.
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Cristero War Martyrs

For generations after Mexico’s Cristero War formally ended, Roman Catholics who were martyred by government troops under the administration of then-President Plutarco Calles went unrecognized. Some news reports even suggest that they were intentionally overlooked.
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