THE PASCUAL BISHOP DÍAZ BARRETO IN THE NEGOTIATIONS OF PEACE IN THE CRISTERA WAR IN MEXICO, 1926-1928

Abstract

Pascual Díaz Barreto, bishop of Tabasco, was the visible head of the moderate wing of the Mexican Episcopate during the Cristero War in Mexico from 1926 to 1929. From the beginning he interview with President Plutarco Elías Calles, with his envoys to negotiate, with The presidential candidate and even confronted the very members of the Mexican Clergy who represented the radical wing and supported the armed conflict. The objective is to describe the steps taken by Diaz Barreto to find a peaceful solution to the confrontation between State and Church; First as General Secretary Episcopal, then from exile and finally as Official Intermediary appointed by Pope Pio XI. Although the article does not cover the solution, the so-called Arrangement between the ecclesial and political hierarchies of the country, it let expose the negotiating capacity of the Bishop of Tabasco to restore peace in Mexico and end the Cristero War.Likewise, with the contribution of first-hand documents - trades and correspondence looking to contribute to a wider and more specific knowledge about the religious conflict, which, in most cases, is addressed without repairing that there were members of the ecclesial elite, such as Bishop Pascual Díaz Barreto, who fought for peace even before the Cristero War officially began on July 31, 1926.