August 9, 2020: Persecution: Then and Now * Letters to the Editor * OPINION * Del Rio News-Herald
Letter to the Editor,
Persecution: Then and Now
Who would have thought that when we were
watching the movie “For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada” released in
2012, that eight years later we would be living in our own Cristero times?
The Cristeros War (1926-1929) took place
in Mexico when the Catholic Church was being persecuted by the government.
The movie portrays the epic struggle of
brave and spirited men and women who fought under the patronage of Christ the
King and their battle cry was “Viva Cristo Rey” which means “Long Live Christ
the King”.
We sat in the movie theatre comfortably
watching the scenes on the screen unfold before us as we viewed heroic
Catholics defend the Church they loved and laid down their lives for.
We were so smug and so sure of ourselves,
that we took for granted, we lived in a country where freedom of religion was
respected as the law of the land and we were free to worship according to the
teachings and truths of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
But now, here we are in the year 2020,
and life in the United States has dramatically changed because of the COVID
pandemic.
Churches closed; Masses live streamed. Movie
theatres empty of moviegoers, no new movies being made, and old movies viewed
at home.
Protests and riots, first against racism
erupted and then drastically have turned into burning Catholic Churches and
desecrating the statues of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
We never thought we’d live to see the
day when persecution of Catholics would come to America.
God bless the courageous Cristeros in
the year 2020; the faithful men and women who are standing in front of sacred
statues and confronting the angry mob from destroying the icons of Catholicism.
The virus is not crowned with glory. In
our Catholic homes and in our loving hearts only King Jesus and Queen Mary wear
the “Corona” of Life and Love.
Let us lift up our battle cries, “Viva
Cristo Rey! Viva Reina MarÃa!”
Marian Casillas,
Ed.D.
Del Rio, Texas