Chicago, U.S.A. The film “Cristiada”, which premiered with great success to audiences in Mexico during the month of April, will be shown in the United States beginning June 1st under the title “For Greater Glory”. It narrates a dramatic episode of the armed struggle for religious freedom in Mexico, between 1926 and 1929. (trailer aquí: http://www.cristiadapelicula.com).
Shouting “Viva Cristo Rey”, numerous contingents, mostly peasants, rose up against a government and its persecutory laws against the Catholic Church. It was a time of great trials and numerous martyrs, among them Fr. Andrés Solá, CMF and his companions; who would later inspire Catholics persecuted during the Spanish civil war.
With the premiere of this film, Mr. Malachy McCarthy, Archivist of the Claretian Province of the United States, has released a study of Dr. Julia Young, of the University of Chicago, who did much of her research in the Claretian Archives. The article is entitled “Cristero Diaspora: Mexican Immigrants, the U.S. Catholic Church and Mexico’s Cristero War, 1926-29”.
The article presents an overview of the movement that led to a strong Mexican migration to the United States. The parents and relatives of many Claretians went into exile because of their convictions of faith or for joining the “Cristero” movement. Parishes and Claretian communities publicly supported the persecuted and became a place of asylum for many bishops, priests and religious, expelled or fleeing persecution.
The Claretians, the Cordimarian Missionary Sisters, and many other religious congregations with a strong presence in Mexico, strengthened their missionary work in the American union and spared no efforts in favor of these migrants.
