Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] The Martyrs of San JoaquinPolitical power grows out of the barrel of a gun. – Zedong Mao (1893-1976)The train’s forged-steel wheels slowed down and screeched to a stop at Kilometer Marker 491, in the windswept, desolate Highlands of Jalisco.In one of the railcars, six Catholic men waited their fate, on that morning, April 25, 1927, in Rancho San Joaquin, when, suddenly, a soldier called out three names: Andres Sola y Molist. José Trinidad Rangel Montano. Leonardo Perez Larios.Forced off the train, the three were goaded down a ravine and ordered to stand in a large pool of spilled...

[Catholic Caucus] A Cristero Story: 27 Martyrs of SahuayoRivers of blood will flow through the streets of Sahuayo. – Jacobita Zepeda del Toro, Seer of SahuayoA COLUMN OF Mexican federal troops descending a mountain slope in Jiquilpan, heading toward Cotija, stumbled upon a platoon of Cristero soldiers.Immediately, a skirmish broke out that lasted for three days – from March 16 to March 19, 1928 – between the two factions: federal versus faithful. On the 19th, the group of 35 Cristeros retreated to El Moral, a cave where they sought refuge after two of their men – Jesus Zambrano and Juan...