Mexican revolutionists Benito Juarez, Ignacio Ramirez, and Porfirio Diaz were all Freemasons, as were most of their close associates. Through their efforts, all Church property was confiscated, and even today no church or religious organization is permitted to own any property in Mexico whatsoever. Every church of whatever denomination, as well as every monastery and convent, is owned by the Mexican government, which permits congregations to use the premises for religious purposes. Technically, even the wearing of a clerical collar or religious habit violates Mexican law. Novelist Evelyn Waugh describes the role of the lodge in recent Mexian history:The first instrument of this policy was Joel Poinsett, who came to Mexico at the establishment of its independence, first as United States agent, later as accredited minister; the means he chose, perhaps the only efficacious means he could have chosen, was the establishment of a rival secret society - the Yorkish Rite to oppose the dominent Scottish Rite.Christianity and American Freemasonry
The Yorkish Rite, introduced by Poinset, was the natural rallying point for those who had been disappointed in the shareout of benefits; it was made up of the lawless elements of the Revolution - the Villas and Zapatas of the revolution of 1910 - and was republican, proletarian and fiercely irreligious in character. Five lodges were organized with local chiefs. Soon the two Rites were divided not only by political views but by personal vendettas. For fifty years the history of Mexico becomes a series of coups and plots, assassinations and executions; of embezzlement and bribery; the learned and charitable institutions were sacked to provide funds for rival gangs; the work of three centuries of civilized rule was obliterated in a generation, leaving the nation bankrupt, discredited abroad and divided by irrreconcilable hatred at home.
Ignatius Press 1958, 1987, 1998
GW Masonic Memorial - Latin American History and Freemasonry
Stanford University Intl. Studies - Re: MEXICO and the Masons
Stanford University Intl. Studies - Mexico and the Masons, the Sandanistas and Somoza
Escoceses v Yorkinos: The Poinsettia and Mexican Freemasonry
Westphalia Press: L’Enfant and the Freemasons, Edited & Introduced by Guillermo De Los Reyes
Aula El Mundo - Book Review | The Freemasons: History of the Most Powerful Secret Society
Stanford University: The White Trail of Free Men and Freemasons, by Prof. Guillermo De Los Reyes
Catholic-sf.org - Living memories of Mexico’s anti-Catholic war
Bro. Plutarco Elías Calles - Freemasonry and Mexico's Cristero War
Palestine Lodge No. 189 AF & AM - Mexican Masonry - Politics & Religion
Militaryphotos.net - Bro. Calderon Secret Masonic 'Cutsign' Méxican Armed Forces Day
Bloomberg.com - U.S. Anti-Gun Program Targeting Flow to Mexico Has `Significant' Weakness
EWTN - 1st Knights of Columbus Bishop to Be Canonized - Martyred during Mexico Masonic Persecution
EWTN - Beatification of 12 Mexican Martyrs of Masonic Cristeros Persecution announced
Zenit - Cardinal Norberto Rivera, Archbishop of Mexico, Hosts First National Meeting of Exorcists
KofC.org - Statue and Painting of Mexican Martyrs Unveiled in Connecticut
Freemasonry Watch Blog: Bro. Felipe Calderon arrives in Guanajuato, Mexico to greet Pope Benedict XVI (01:51, 02:00, 10:37)
Further Reading