Victory on Earth or in Heaven

This work reconstructs the history of Mexico's forgotten ';Religionero' rebellion of 18731877, an armed Catholic challenge to the government of Sebastin Lerdo de Tejada. An essentially grassroots movementorganized by indigenous, Afro-Mexican, and mestizo parishioners in Mexico's central-western Catholic heartlandthe Religionero rebellion erupted in response to a series of anticlerical measures raised to constitutional status by the Lerdo government. These ';Laws of Reform' decreed the full independence of Church and state, secularized marriage and burial practices, prohibited acts of public worship, and severely curtailed the Church's ability to own and administer property. A comprehensive reconstruction of the revolt and a critical reappraisal of its significance, this book places ordinary Catholics at the center of the story of Mexico's fragmented nineteenth-century secularization and Catholic revival.