At Miguel Pro’s beatification, John Paul, II said, “Neither suffering nor serious illness, neither the exhausting ministerial activity, frequently carried out in difficult and dangerous circumstances, could stifle the radiating and contagious joy which Blessed Miguel Pro brought to his life for Christ and which nothing could take away. Viva Cristo Rey! He was a man of peace, tending to the needs of the widows and orphans of los Cristeros, the soldiers of Christ who were fighting the secular despots. Hymn to Cristo Rey A song of the Requetés during the Spanish Civil War In 1936 Spain was polarized between Anti-Catholic Republican Government, supported by communists, socialists, anarchists and progressivists, and the uneasy alliance between the Catholic monarchists and the fascist Falange of Francisco Franco. Contextual translation of "viva cristo rey" into English. These men were willing to fight for the freedom of the Church. Viva Cristo Rey! In many places it was easier to find a whore to lie with than a priest to baptize your child. Long live Christ the King! Anthony Esolen. It's a semi-arid middle of nowhere, with tall grass and a few skinny trees. "How the Church Has Changed the World: "Viva Cristo Rey!" That used to be the attitude of politicians in the United States. Two soldiers in boots assist him. At the moment of execution, he forgave his enemies and extended his arms in the form of a cross, crying out, Viva Cristo Rey! We crush a scorpion because we fear and loathe it. Human translations with examples: find it!, christ the king, vive christi regis. "How the Church Has Changed the World: "Viva Cristo Rey!" The Church is hated not for her vices but for her virtues which are transcendent, and which put the poor old world to shame. Religion is for the poor and the ignorant, and keeps them so. Let's be honest. Father Pro was innocent, according to the testimony of the would-be assassin himself. Blessed Miguel Pro is … Witness: “Viva Cristo Rey!” Read More » In a time when organized religion and freedom of conscience seem to be dwindling on a daily basis, we as Catholics must make every effort to remain undeterred. Such is the fear and loathing that Christ's Church arouses. Magnificat (March, 2017). We must never patronize our Lord, and toss him a scrap of Sundays and pious sentiments. The nearest figure is of a powerfully built youth, all in white. Many had grown up in the Catholic Association of Mexican Youth, studying the lives of Catholics like Daniel O'Connell, who fought for Irish independence. A second line of men, facing the first line, can be seen in the foreground. This month's essay is indebted to David Bailey's fine history of the Cristeros rebellion, Viva Cristo Rey!, 1974. They were not rich. The government seized Catholic orphanages and schools, though most of the Church's real property had been plundered long before, when Mexico won her independence from Spain. Most Americans found the Mexican business baffling, not in keeping with their own progressive view of liberty and their still strong understanding of the central role of religion in the common good. They never tell us what they think is the source of all the evil in themselves. The Church is hated not for her vices but for her virtues which are transcendent, and which put the poor old world to shame. Anthony Esolen. Most came from the countryside. People who have the common good in mind must welcome the vigorous action of the Church. Catholics began to take seriously the exhortations of Pope Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum (1891), and various Mexican Catholic congresses were pressing for trade unions and guilds, tax-exempt credit cooperatives, free schools, better conditions for sharecroppers and Indians, and even, in exchange for indemnities, the expropriation of large tracts of land held by too few, to be parceled among farmers of the lower classes.