A shared frontier faith: Border cities El Paso and Ciudad Juárez remember Cristero War

Catholics on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border are preparing for a special event that seeks to “revive the witness” of those who lived through the religious persecution  of a century ago and rekindle “our commitment as Christians,” Lorena Tabares explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.

Tabares is a member of the Binational Pro-Family Pro-Life League , the organization behind the conference “¡Viva Cristo Rey! 100 Years of Faith and Freedom,” taking place on Saturday, Oct. 3, in both El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

While the enforcement of draconian anticlerical laws in Mexico a century ago drew both nonviolent resistance and the armed Cristero uprising, defending the Catholic faith today in both the U.S. and Mexico often involves pro-life and pro-family advocacy.

In explaining why they decided to hold the event on both sides of the border, Tabares highlighted that “we are a cross-border faith community that witnessed the effects of this historic event.”

“By reflecting on it together, we can not only relive the testimony of those who came before us but also rekindle our commitment as Christians,” she…