The Calles Law (), or Law for Reforming the Penal Code (''ley de tolerancia de cultos'', "law of worship tolerance"), was a statute enacted in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 1926, under the presidency of

Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a general in the Mexican Revolution and a Sonoran politician, serving as President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist ...

, to enforce restrictions against the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Article 130 of the

Mexican Constitution of 1917 The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in th ...

. Article 130 declared that the church and state are to remain separate. To that end, it required all "churches and religious groupings" to register with the state and placed restrictions on priests and ministers of all religions. Priests and ministers were prohibited from holding public office, canvass on behalf of political parties or candidates, or inherit property from persons other than close blood relatives. President Calles applied existing laws regarding the separation of church and state throughout Mexico and added his own legislation. In June 1926, he signed the "Law for Reforming the Penal Code", which became known unofficially as the "Calles Law." This law provided specific penalties for priests and individuals who violated Article 130 of the 1917 Constitution. For example, wearing clerical garb in public was punishable by a fine of 500 pesos (approximately 250 U.S. dollars at the time, or worth $4,250 in 2010). A priest who criticized the government could be imprisoned up to five years. Some states enacted further measures in the name of church and state separation. Chihuahua, for example, enacted a law permitting only a single priest to serve the entire Catholic congregation of the state.

Tabasco Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It is located in ...

, on the other hand, introduced a law whereby all priests were required to be married to exercise their office. To help enforce the law, Calles seized Church properties, expelled foreign priests, and closed monasteries, convents, and religious schools.Warnock, John W. ''The Other Mexico: The North American Triangle Completed'
p. 27
(1995 Black Rose Books, Ltd) The Church saw the law as a trap to conform the Church to a tyrannical state. One result of the Calles Law was the

Cristero War The Cristero War ( es, Guerra Cristera), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or es, La Cristiada, label=none, italics=no , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 1 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementa ...

, a popular uprising of Catholic peasants in regions of central Mexico against the federal Mexican government. Between 1926 and 1934, at least 40 priests were killed during the war.Van Hove, Bria
Blood-Drenched Altars
Faith & Reason 1994 Whereas Mexico had some 4,500 Catholic priests prior to the Cristero War, by 1934 only 334 Catholic priests were licensed by the government to serve Mexico's 15 million people. By 1935, 17 states were left with no priest at all. Under President Lázaro Cárdenas, the Calles Law was repealed in 1938.''Time'', Monday, 26 Dec. 1938
"Religion: Where Is He?"
/ref>

References

{{Secularism in Mexico Anti-clericalism in Mexico Cristero War Law of Mexico Persecution of Christians

See also

References