In a world filled with constant religious intolerance and strife, it is easy to overlook a little known twentieth-century religious war that was fought on the shores of North America. Taking place in Mexico in the 1920s, La Cristiada―the Cristero War―was the result of repressive anti-religious laws directed at the Catholic Church.
After the Mexican Revolution of 1916, the newly drafted Mexican Constitution greatly restricted the function of the Church. It halted Church control of schools, banned monastic orders, and eliminated religious processions and outdoor masses. By 1926, the government had pushed these laws to the limit and created a rebellion. While the KKK pressed the Mexican Government to crush the rebels, the Knights of Columbus sought to end the struggle by peaceful means. In 1929, the American ambassador to Mexico finally helped arrange a nonviolent end to a conflict that had taken the lives of over 90,000 people.
