I didnt know it...
Mexico is supposed to be so “Catholic”
Apparently there was a time that it wasnt...
It isn’t really. The Catholic church was driven underground, and the regular Mexican is not very well taught.
Living on the border I’ve always known that the government of Mexico was hostile to the Catholic Church but it wasn’t until I read the story of Padre Pro that I realized how bad it was.
They may be but from my seat looking in they sure have babies out of wedlock. Just sayin.
We had a priest visit our parish and speak on this. It was just terrible. One photograph sticks in my mind — priests hanging from railroad poles as far as the eye could see.
They put up signs in the Catholic churches, overnight - “He is NOT here,” where the light in the tabernacle had been —and forbade priests from celebrating Mass. The priests would dress as civilians and carry the Eucharist in altars that folded up to look like suitcases, risking their lives for their sheep.
The guerillas fought long and hard, the women side by side. They also brought food and supplies to the men fighting.
Although I had studied Latin American history, I had not heard of this terrible time. Many nuns and priests left the country and moved into California during this terrible time of persecution. We have many convents and parishes here in Los Angeles — and I imagine all along the border, into Texas even — that were founded in the early 1920s by folks fleeing this dreadful persecution.