Posted on 05/28/2012 6:51:32 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
The film shows a burning crucifix, gun-toting priests and the torture of a young boy. And the Roman Catholic hierarchy is loving it.
The film, “For Greater Glory,” hits theaters on June 1 and tells a little known chapter of Mexican history — the Cristero War of 1926 to 1929, which pitted an army of devout Catholic rebels (led in the movie by Andy Garcia) against the government of Mexican President Plutarco Calles (played by Ruben Blades).
For Catholics enraged by the Obama administration’s proposed contraception mandate, the film about the Mexican church’s fight in 1920s is a heartening and timely cinematic boost in the American church’s battle to preserve “religious freedom” in 2012.
For other Catholics and non-Catholics, the film is, more simply, action, suspense and a good cast. Besides Garcia and Blades, there’s “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria and the legendary actor Peter O’Toole.
Endorsements for the film from Catholic leaders explicitly connect it to the current clash between church and state.
“’For Greater Glory’ is ‘must-see’ viewing for all those who care about faith and liberty today,” wrote Carl A. Anderson, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, which put the film on the cover of its members’ magazine.
“It is a top-flight production whose message of the importance of religious freedom has particular resonance for us today,” added Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez.
Mexican real estate developer Pablo Jose Barroso, the devout Catholic who produced the film, was asked by the National Catholic Reporter if the film’s release — coinciding with the current activism on religious freedom — was “God’s timing.”
“This is the perfect time for this film,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Why be diverted by triviality?
Finally, Article 130 took away basic civil rights of members of the clergy: priests and religious were prevented from wearing their habits, were denied the right to vote, and were not permitted to comment on public affairs in the press. Most of the anti-clerical provisions of the constitution were removed in 1998.
That answers a qustion I have had. I knew about the prohibition of clerical dress in public because my church had a nun who went to work in Mexico in 1966. The ladies' guild gave her a "shower" to provide her with street clothes, a wig, and simple jewelry so that she could serve in Mexico. Yet, my pastor, who vacations in Mexico annually, seems to have never heard of this rule (circa 2012) because I've asked him about it. I knew the rule was still in place in the 1970s because we were living in TX at that time and the priest who served in our parish did extensive missionary work in Mexico.
Hope this will be a good one.
Saw it last night. I highly recommend it! There’s even a line where the General says to Jose, the boy, something like “if I had a son he’d be just like you!” I wonder if ‘Fearless Reader’ attended an early screening of the film.
After JPII visited Mexico in 1979 the rules were relaxed, but prior to that no clerical grab was allowed in public. I heard this from a Polish priest I met in Mexico in 1985, though he was not wearing clerics when in public.
I hope to see it this week. I couldn’t see it at home when it opened because we wwre preparing to leave town for a couple of weeks. But I fully intend to find a theatre in the town where we are staying and will see this movie. In the mean time, I am re-reading a novel set in the period and dealing with a lot of issues of the day.
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