The Catholic Church in Mexico, triumphs and traumas
It is a tribute to the sincerity and strength of the faith of the Mexican people, that Catholicism, is still the dominant religion in this land south of the Rio Grande. Time after time, the Catholic Ch...
read more
Jews in Mexico. a struggle for survival part 3
Survivors.
The very word has connotations of persecution, repression, hardship and escape. It also describes people with courage, stamina, the ability to adapt and almost always a moral strength and c...
read more
Jews in Mexico. a struggle for survival part 2
The vast majority of the approximately 50,000 Mexican citizens who practice Judaism via organized congregations are descendents of people who, from 1881 to 1939, found life-saving refuge in this countr...
read more
Jews in Mexico. a struggle for survival part 1
The survival of Judaism in Mexico is a tale of tenacity and tolerance. The story begins in Spain with the "Conversos", Jews who had converted to Christianity, always under duress.
It starts in 600 AD,...
read more
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
The story is based on an actual event in Mexican history when, in 1926, then President Calles began a persecution of the Roman Catholic Church by burning churches and killing priests and, in general, creating a Godless country. The reason for the persecution was what the government called the Church's greed and debauchery. The campaign was more successful in some states than in others. Tabasco was the most rabid persecutor and the Governor, Tomas Garrido Canabal, actually drove every priest out of the state. Canabal was determined to show that a well-run society was possible without allowing any place for religion. Churches were destroyed and the stones used to pave roads. To protect the populace he also outlawed alcohol and jazz. The importation of saxophones was banned. One follower was so devoted to the cause he carried a business card which explained that he was the personal enemy of God. In some cases a citizen could be severely penalized for saying "Adios" simply because it referred to God.
read more
Did you know? The first Archbishop of Oaxaca: a miraculous birth and re-birth
In 1887, Eulogio Gregorio Clemente Gillow y Zavalza (1841-1922) was appointed Bishop of Antequera (Oaxaca). Four years later, he became the first Archbishop of Antequera. Named after a town in Spain, A...
read more
Did you know? Mexico's first tourists
Father Alonso Ponce and Friar Antonio de Ciudad Real were probably Mexico's first ever tourists.
Father Alonso Ponce de León arrived in Veracruz in September 1584 and spent the next five years travel...
read more
Religion In Latin America: A Documentary History
Religion in Latin America: A Documentary History
By Lee M. Penyak and Walter J. Petry
Orbis Books, 2006
Available from Amazon Books: Paperback
Reviewed by James Tipton © Ja...
read more
Mesoamerican Religion: Symbolism of the Gods Part One
Our main sources of information on pre-Hispanic religion in Mesoamerica include archaeological monuments and Classic murals, as well as Landa's Relación and ethnological reports of surviving religious...
read more
