Academic Program

One Hundred Years after the Cristiada: Memory, Faith, and Christian Witness

Rocco Buttiglione, Philosopher, academic and former Italian minister

Taking as its point of departure the declaration of the Mexican bishops marking the centenary of the beginning of the Cristiada, this lecture places the commemoration within a broader historical, ecclesial, and cultural horizon. What does it mean for the Church to remember, one hundred years later, an experience marked by religious persecution, the witness of faith, and martyrdom? How might that memory illuminate Christian freedom and the responsibility of the laity in the circumstances of the present day?

Coffee Break

From Civic to Armed Resistance: Catholic Conscience in the Face of Religious Persecution

Anuar Emanuel López Marmolejo, Lawyer, professor and researcher

As legal and political avenues for the defense of religious freedom in Mexico progressively closed, Catholics turned to different forms of resistance, ranging from civic organization and boycott to armed uprising. This lecture examines the circumstances that led to this development and the moral questions faced by those who had to decide how to respond to persecution, seeking to understand their decisions within the concrete historical conditions in which they were made.

Remembering the Witnesses: The Cristiada in the Memory of Their Families

Amado Martín Vázquez Martínez, Journalist, author and historical communicator

This testimony brings together the voices and memories transmitted by descendants of martyrs, confessors, and participants in the Cristero movement, as well as by families who lived through the persecution. It also includes the memories of those who knew the last survivors and of those who suffered the violence of the conflict without directly taking part in it.

Discussion / Q&A

Lunch

University Courtyard

Tracing the Devotional Heart of the Cristero Movement in Jalisco

Juan Martín Gama Jaramillo, Historical researcher and Coordinator of the Anacleto González Flores Chair

This lecture traces the spirituality that nourished the Cristero movement in Jalisco, with particular attention to its devotions, places, communities, and expressions of popular piety. It thus presents the religious context in which faith became a source of identity, strength, and witness.

From the Sacred Heart to Christ the King: The Spiritual Formation of the Cristero Movement

Patrick Quinlan, Doctoral Researcher in Global Law

This lecture examines the place of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Christ the King within the Catholic spirituality that preceded and accompanied the Cristero movement. More than mere emblems, these devotions provided a spiritual language for understanding the sovereignty of Christ, personal self-gift, reparation, and the witness of faith in the face of persecution.

Our Lady of Guadalupe: Home, Community, and the Transmission of Faith

Daniel Casillas Martín, Lawyer, author and Guadalupan researcher

This lecture examines devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe within the context of family, parish, and community life during the Cristiada. It highlights especially the role of women and lay leadership in the transmission of the faith, as well as the home as the first school of Christian discipleship.

Discussion / Q&A