A testament to faith and religious freedom

The film “For Greater Glory” features a stellar cast of American and Mexican actors portraying the lives and events of a conflict in Mexico known as the Cristero War.

The fundamental reason for this tragic event, which cost the lives of more than 200,000 people, was the Mexican government’s attack on religious freedom.

The Mexican government set itself up to be the sole grantor and measure for a freedom based on mere secularist and materialist definitions. However, there were those who believed that absolute freedom is not and can never be born in nor granted by any human institution. They believed that God alone is the author and grantor of absolute freedom and this God given right must be defended even to the point of martyrdom.

“For Greater Glory” is set during the height of the violent and bloody war (1926-1929) and reveals the history of the Cristero defenders of religious freedom through a powerful and memorable story of faith, martyrdom and conversion.

To better appreciate the film’s message in its historical context we should review the antecedent political maneuvers that led up to the Cristero War. An already delicate relation between Church and State took a downward slide in 1855 with the political reforms orchestrated by President Benito Juárez. Known as La Ley Juárez, the reforms included anti-Catholic regulations whereby the Church’s property was nationalized. Monasteries and convents were also suppressed and new ones prohibited.

These measures remained in place with the exception of the years 1876-1911 when under the presidency of Porfirio Díaz the Church experienced some freedom and growth. The revolution of 1910 overthrew the Díaz regime and a few years later a very secular and anti-Catholic Constitution of 1917 emerged.

By 1925, President Plutarco Elías Calles fearing an economic collapse due to a boycott headed by La Liga Nacional Para la Defensa de las Libertades (the National League for the Defense of Religious Liberty) put in place his own regulations known as La Ley Calles. This act gave rise to the violent and bloody attack perpetrated by the Calles government against faithful Catholics whom he considered to be fanatical and superstitious.

It is at this stage of the conflict that “For Greater Glory” presents us the struggle for religious freedom as it is played out in the lives of an atheist general and a faith-filled 14-year-old boy who would later be proclaimed Blessed by the Church.

General Enrique Gorostieta, played by Andy García, is a retired decorated general of two civil wars. Though he and his family live well, he personally struggles with the meaning of life. When he accepts command of the Cristero forces he does so for monetary reasons but as he associates with the Cristeros he is impressed and moved by their zeal as defenders of the Catholic faith.

Unlike himself, they do not seek worldly compensation but seek a far more noble reward, the right to worship God freely. The General is further inspired by the 14-year-old Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio, played by Mauricio Kuri, who joined the Cristeros out of love for Christ and a duty to defend religious liberty.

Government forces captured Jose Luis and tortured him severely in an attempt to get him to deny Jesus Christ. Amidst severe torture and battery he responds to his torturers with the Cristero battle cry, “Viva Cristo Rey.” For his unwillingness to deny Jesus Christ, he is paraded through the street to be executed. One last time he is asked to deny Christ and again he demonstrates his strong faith and determination when he answers, “Viva Cristo Rey. “
Jose Luis’ martyrdom so moves General Gorostieta that he seeks the Sacrament of Confession and in the course of war he too meets a heroic end.

Apart from its entertainment value “For Greater Glory” is a film that can inspire faith and devotion. The compelling scene of Jose Luis’ martyrdom can cause us to examine our own fidelity to Jesus Christ. General Gorostieta’s story of conversion is a testament to how a man who leads a vacuous life can find purpose and meaning by witnessing the active faith of exemplary Christians.

Overall, the film beckons us to consider the extent to which we are willing to defend our religious values and to what degree we are willing to offer our lives for the greater glory of God.