STUDIES OF THE AMERICAS edited by James Dunkerley Institute for the Study of the Americas University of London School of Advanced Study Titles in this series are multi-disciplinary studies of aspects of the societies of the hemisphere, particularly in the areas of politics, economics, history, anthropology, sociology, and the environment. The series covers a comparative perspective across the Americas, including Canada and the Caribbean as well as the USA and Latin America. Titles in this series published by Palgrave Macmillan: Cuba s Military 1990-2005: Revolutionary Soldiers during Counter-Revolutionary Times By Hal Klepak The Judicialization of Politics in Latin America Edited by Rachel Sieder, Line Schjolden, and Alan Angell Latin America: A New Interpretation By Laurence Whitehead Appropriation as Practice: Art and Identity in Argentina By Arnd Schneider America and Enlightenment Constitutionalism Edited by Gary L. McDowell and Johnathan O Neill Vargas and Brazil: New Perspectives Edited by Jens R. Hentschke When Was Latin America Modern? Edited by Nicola Miller and Stephen Hart Debating Cuban Exceptionalism Edited by Bert Hoffmann and Laurence Whitehead Caribbean Land and Development Revisited Edited by Jean Besson and Janet Momsen Cultures of the Lusophone Black Atlantic Edited by Nancy Naro, Roger Sansi-Roca, and David H. Treece Democratization, Development, and Legality: Chile, 1831-1973 By Julio Faundez The Hispanic World and American Intellectual Life, 1820-1880 By Iván Jaksic The Role of Mexico s Plural in Latin American Literary and Political Culture: From Tlatelolco to the Philanthropic Ogre By John King Faith and Impiety in Revolutionary Mexico Edited by Matthew Butler
Reinventing Modernity in Latin America: Intellectuals Imagine the Future, 1900-1930 By Nicola Miller Youth Violence in Latin America: Gangs and Juvenile Justice in Perspective By Gareth A. Jones and Dennis Rodgers The Republican Party and Immigration Politics: From Proposition 187 to George W. Bush By Andrew Wroe
Faith and Impiety in Revolutionary Mexico Edited by Matthew Butler
FAITH AND IMPIETY IN REVOLUTIONARY MEXICO Copyright Matthew Butler, 2007. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-1-4039-8381-7 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-53926-0 ISBN 978-0-230-60880-1 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230608801 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Faith and impiety in revolutionary Mexico / edited by Matthew Butler. p. cm. (Studies of the Americas series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-53926-0 1. Mexico Religion 20th century. 2. Mexico History Revolution, 1910 1920 Religious aspects. 3. Christianity and politics Mexico History 20th century. 4. Christianity and politics Catholic Church History 20th century. 5. Mexico History Revolution, 1910 1920 Religious aspects Catholic Church. 6. Catholic Church Mexico History 20th century. 7. Mexico Church history 20th century. I. Butler, Matthew. BL2530.M4F35 2007 200.973 09041 dc22 2007009481 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: December 2007 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction A Revolution in Spirit? Mexico, 1910 40 1 Matthew Butler Chapter 1 The Mentality and Modus Operandi of Revolutionary Anticlericalism 21 Alan Knight Chapter 2 Mexico s Ritual Constant : Religion and Liberty from Colony to Post-Revolution 57 Fernando Cervantes Chapter 3 Protestants, Freemasons, and Spiritists: Non-Catholic Religious Sociabilities and Mexico s Revolutionary Movement, 1910 20 75 Jean-Pierre Bastian Chapter 4 Ethereal Allies: Spiritism and the Revolutionary Struggle in Hidalgo 93 Keith Brewster and Claire Brewster Chapter 5 The Regional Dynamics of Anticlericalism and Defanaticization in Revolutionary Mexico 111 Adrian A. Bantjes Chapter 6 The First Encounter : Catholic Politics in Revolutionary Jalisco, 1917 19 131 Robert Curley
vi CONTENTS Chapter 7 Trouble Afoot? Pilgrimage in Cristero Mexico City 149 Matthew Butler Chapter 8 Revolutionary and Not-So-Revolutionary Negotiations in Catholic Annulment, Bigamy, and Divorce Trials: The Archdiocese of Mexico, 1929 40 167 Kristina A. Boylan Chapter 9 Religious Conflict and Catholic Resistance in 1930s Oaxaca 185 Jean Meyer Chapter 10 Anti-Priests versus Catholic-Socialists in 1930s Campeche: Federal Teachers, Revolutionary Communes, and Anticlericalism 203 Ben Fallaw Chapter 11 El Indio Gabriel : New Religious Perspectives among the Indigenous in Garrido Canabal s Tabasco (1927 30) 225 Massimo De Giuseppe Chapter 12 A Revolution in Local Catholicism? Oaxaca, 1928 34 243 Edward Wright-Rios Chapter 13 The Priest s Party : Local Catholicism and Panismo in Huajuapam de León 261 Benjamin Smith List of Contributors 279 Index 283
Acknowledgments Thanks are due to various people and institutions for their help in seeing this book through to completion: first and foremost, I would like to thank both Ella Pearce and Joanna Mericle at Palgrave Macmillan in New York as editor and editorial assistant, respectively for all their help, professionalism, and encouragement. In his capacity as series editor, I would also like to express my thanks to Professor James Dunkerley of the Institute for the Study of the Americas in London. In addition, I thank the anonymous referees who reported on the proposal and manuscript for their constructive comments. Finally, I owe a debt of thanks to all the contributors to this volume whose collective endeavors made this project so enjoyable. This book originated in an idea for a conference God s Revolution: Faith and Impiety in Revolutionary Mexico, 1910 1940 which was held at Queen s University Belfast in October 2005. This is a good place, then, to thank all those who took part in this event; I am also indebted to those whose support and logistical help made the symposium possible, the British Academy and Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS), which generously provided conference grants and both the School of Languages (SLLA) and Department of Spanish at Queen s University Belfast. My individual thanks to people within, or connected to, those institutions go to: Professors David Brading, Tony Kapcia, and, Peter Wade; Isabel Torres, Peter Crowley, Diana Vázquez Maqueda, Professor David Johnston (as Head of SLLA), and Paul Rankin (who first translated the chapter by Jean-Pierre Bastian). The directors and archivists of the excellent Archivo Histórico del Arzobispado de México in Mexico City Father Gustavo Watson, Marco Antonio Pérez Iturbe, and Berenise Bravo Rubio also supported the project from the outset and kindly granted permission to use the jacket image (source: Fondo Pascual Díaz Barreto). My final thanks go to Desmond and Jenny Butler, the Torres Meza family in Mexico City, and, of course, my wife Patricia.