Mexican Prelate’s Distorted Narrative Betrays Cristero Martyrs’ Legacy
The Catholic News Agency (January 21, 2026) recounts Auxiliary “Bishop” Pedro Mena’s reflections on the Cristero War centenary, emphasizing history’s pedagogical value while lamenting its absence from Mexican curricula. The Yucatán prelate describes the 1926-1929 conflict as perpetually “controversial” with “virtues, flaws, [and] excesses,” suggesting ecclesiastical discernment about contemporary evangelization methods. He cites Tertullian’s “blood of martyrs” adage and John Paul II’s 1990 visit to Cristero regions, while noting current church-state tensions despite 1992 constitutional reforms. The article concludes with Mena’s concern about forming “mature Christians” amid modern challenges.
Omission of Calles Law’s Satanic Character
The article conspicuously avoids examining the sui generis nature of Plutarco ElÃas Calles’ persecution – a systematic attempt to eradicate Catholicism through Constitutional Article 130’s prohibition of religious education, clerical attire, and public worship. Pius XI’s encyclical Iniquis Afflictisque (1926) condemned this as “satanic hatred,” noting how “churches were closed…sacred ministers exiled” (§3). By reducing the conflict to mere “controversy,” Mena commits grave injustice against Cristero martyrs like Blessed Miguel Pro, executed for administering sacraments – the very “excess” the conciliar prelate implicitly critiques.
Modernist Language Subverts Martyrs’ Witness
Mena’s call to “discern [the Cristero War] from God’s word perspective” employs characteristic conciliar ambiguity. Contrast this with Pius XI’s unambiguous teaching: “When the state denies the rights of Christ the King, citizens must resist even unto blood” (Quas Primas, §18). The auxiliary “bishop’s” suggestion that Cristeros committed “excesses” echoes Masonic propaganda alleging rebel brutality – a lie demolished by historical records showing federal forces massacred civilians while Cristeros wore Sacred Heart badges and carried banners of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Heretical Equivocation on John Paul II
The article scandalously cites the WojtyÅ‚a figure (“John Paul II”) as moral authority despite his manifest heresies condemned in the Syllabus of Errors: his Assisi syncretism (cf. Syllabus §16-18), embrace of religious liberty (Syllabus §77-79), and modernist ecclesiology (Syllabus §19-22). That this antipope visited “Land of Martyrs” regions constitutes supreme hypocrisy – Cristero martyrs died resisting the very principles WojtyÅ‚a later promulgated. Mena’s admiration for WojtyÅ‚a’s 1979 cassock-wearing – allegedly “prohibited by laws” – ignores how post-conciliar “clergy” abandoned cassocks voluntarily to implement Vatican II’s aggiornamento.
False Narrative of 1992 “Reforms”
Mena’s praise for 1992 constitutional changes betrays ignorance of Catholic state doctrine. The Cristeros fought not merely for private worship rights but for Christ’s Social Kingship – the raison d’être of Catholic Mexico. Leo XIII’s Immortale Dei declares: “States cannot exclude the Church from legislation…without disastrous consequences” (§13). The 1992 reforms accepted secularism’s fundamental error condemned in Pius IX’s Quanta Cura: “the absurd principle of ‘separation of Church and State'” (§3). Thus, current “dialogue channels” with Mexican authorities constitute collaboration with apostasy.
Evangelical Vacuum in Conciliar “Formation”
The auxiliary “bishop’s” concern about creating “mature Christians” inadvertently indicts his own sect. Contrast his social-media-obsessed “discernment” with Cristero formation: Children learned catechism at risk of death, attended clandestine Masses, and venerated martyr relics. St. Pius X’s Acerbo Nimis mandated systematic doctrinal instruction precisely to produce such maturity – abandoned by conciliarists who replaced Thomism with “encounter” rhetoric. Mena’s suggestion to “challenge” youth through questions adopts the modernist pedagogy condemned in St. Pius X’s Pascendi (§33): substituting doubt for dogma as learning methodology.
Post-Conciliar Betrayal of Cristero Legacy
The Cristero martyrs’ final cry – ¡Viva Cristo Rey! – embodied Pius XI’s teaching that “nations must submit to Christ’s law as to their first and final rule” (Quas Primas, §31). Today’s conciliar sect betrays this legacy by:
Celebrating 1992 secularist compromises
while neglecting to demand Catholicism’s restoration as state religion. Where Cristero priests like Fr. José Reyes Vega fought federal troops to defend altars, modern “clergy” tolerate Eucharistic abuse from Bergoglian modernists. Until Mexico’s hierarchy repudiates Vatican II’s religious liberty heresy (contra Syllabus §77-79) and re-proclaims Christ’s royal rights over society, their Cristero commemorations remain empty theatrics unworthy of martyrs’ blood.
Source:
‘History is a great teacher’: A Mexican bishop’s reflections on the Cristero War (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 21.01.2026