Commemorating the Centennial of the Cristero War

WHEREAS, the Knights of Columbus was established in Mexico in 1905 and rapidly became the most influential lay Catholic organization in that country; and

WHEREAS, two decades later, in 1926, President Plutarco Elías Calles of Mexico began to strictly enforce the anti-clerical and secular provisions of the Mexican Constitution through a statute now known as the Calles Law; and

WHEREAS, the Calles Law led to widespread protests among the Catholic faithful, which were often led by members of the Knights of Columbus and culminated in the decision of Mexico’s bishops to suspend public religious services at the stroke of midnight on August 1, 1926; and

WHEREAS, the Mexican government responded by violently persecuting the Catholic Church during a period that came to be known as the Cristiada, when federal forces went against their fellow citizens who fought and died with the words, “¡Viva Cristo Rey y Santa María de Guadalupe!” on their lips, thus earning the name “Cristeros”; and

WHEREAS, these Cristeros took as their patroness the Virgin of Guadalupe, whose appearance in 1531 to St. Juan Diego led to the conversion of millions of native Mexicans to the Catholic faith; and

WHEREAS, the Knights of Columbus was singled out by the Mexican government, suffering direct attacks in the conflict, with its offices raided, its records stolen, its leadership exiled or targeted for assassination, its activities suppressed, and membership in the Order itself becoming a cause for government exclusion and persecution, with some 70 Knights having been killed; and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Council was active in support of the bishops and the faithful in Mexico, many of whom were exiled to the United States — including our brother Knight, St. Rafael Guízar y Valencia — and following the 44th Supreme Convention in Philadelphia in August 1926, the Order established a $1 million relief fund and made direct appeals to the U.S. president and other officials, while also supporting several delegates to that meeting who were barred from returning to Mexico and went on to establish Tepeyac Council No. 2635 in Los Angeles, which remained active until 1940; and

WHEREAS, during his Annual Report at that Supreme Convention, one hundred years ago, Supreme Knight James A. Flaherty proclaimed that “We shall protest against this persecution in the names of humanity and liberty. We shall raise our voice against this persecution of our brothers even as we would raise our voice against similar persecution wherever it might be, against whomever it might be”; and

WHEREAS, in November 1926, Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Iniquis Afflictisque on the situation in Mexico, mentioning foremost the Knights of Columbus as “made up of active and industrious members who, because of their practical lives and open profession of the Faith, as well as by their zeal in assisting the Church, have brought great honor upon themselves”; and

WHEREAS, in 2000, twenty-five courageous Mexican martyrs of the period were canonized by Pope John Paul II, including six priests who were members of the Order: St. Luis Batis Sáinz, St. Mateo Correa Magallanes, St. José María Robles Hurtado, St. Miguel de la Mora de la Mora, St. Roderigo Aguilar Alemán and St. Pedro de Jesús Maldonado Lucero, who all continued ministering to their people during the severe suppression of the Church, offering Mass in secret locations, hearing Confessions and administering the sacraments to the faithful who requested them, and who were captured by federal forces and publicly executed; and

WHEREAS, in 2005, thirteen other Mexican martyrs were beatified by Pope Benedict XVI, among them three more Knights of Columbus — two priests, Blessed José Trinidad Rangel Montaño and Blessed Andrés Solá Molist, and one layman, Blessed Leonardo Pérez Larios; and

WHEREAS, the Knights of Columbus, having received custody of holy relics of these martyrs, has brought them for veneration throughout Mexico and the United States for more than two decades, including to Denver for veneration by the delegates to this 144th Supreme Council Meeting; and

WHEREAS, the Knights of Columbus provided major financial support for the construction of the monumental shrine dedicated to the Mexican Martyrs of Christ the King, in the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, to which Mexican Knights have gone on annual pilgrimage since 2016, most recently on July 5, 2026, to inaugurate the Cristero centennial; and

WHEREAS, the Knights of Columbus provided financial support and technical guidance for the 2012 landmark motion picture on the Cristero period, called For Greater Glory, which brought the story to a worldwide audience, including to the people of Mexico, where the true history had been suppressed, silenced or distorted by the government for decades.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Knights of Columbus pledges to keep alive the memory of these courageous Knights, their exemplary testimony, and this period of history through continued education, devotions and liturgical celebrations, as well as its support of pilgrimages to the holy sites where the Mexican martyrs are venerated, so that Knights and all Catholics may recognize and cherish religious freedom as paramount and foundational among all human rights; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Knights of Columbus will mark the centennial by bringing the Cristiada story to audiences through the production of a new documentary showing why it mattered and the role the Order played in it; and in addition, that the Order will continue to bring the holy relics of our Mexican Martyrs on pilgrimage throughout North America, and will make the movie For Greater Glory available on the Order’s web portal for all members to view.