Church and State Education in Revolutionary Mexico City (review)

Between 1926 and 1929, civil war raged in a large part of western Mexico. The Cristiada or the Cristero uprising had its origins in the implementation by the administration of Elias Plutarco Calles of the anti-clerical provisions of the 1917 constitution. The United States brokered a peace between the Mexican government and the Catholic hierarchy, which had promoted resistance and then stepped aside once violence broke out. The men at arms in what they saw as the service of God had to make their own deals with government military commanders.

Catholic lay groups in Mexico City provided material support to the Cristeros, but the capital avoided the actual fighting. However, as the author of this book shows, Mexico City became the scene of conflict in classrooms in public and Catholic schools, ostensibly banned by the 1917 constitution. Schell examines schools in Mexico City in the early 1920s, leading up to the outbreak of the Cristiada, considering both primary schools and adult schools, including vocational schools.

The author largely focuses on curriculum to document the content of education and the similarities between public and Catholic schools. She provides the background to education in Mexico during the Porfiriato (1876-1910), and changes initiated following the revolution such as greater federal controls through the Secretaria de Educacion Publica (established in 1921), a shift from more local control. In the early 1920s, many private Catholic schools submitted their curriculum to SEP for approval. She then outlines what the curriculum indicates was taught in classrooms. The schools promoted morality, which had broken down during a decade of turmoil, as well as basic skills including reading and writing, and practical skills. Adult schools also taught reading and writing, or vocational skills. There were close parallels between the curriculum in public and Catholic schools. Finally, the author documents daily life in schools and the activities of Catholic lay organizations that supported the educational agenda, primarily the Union de Damas Catolicas Mexicanas.

In 1926, Mexico entered a period of crisis as president Elias Plutarco Calles began to impose the anticlerical measures contained in the 1917 constitution, that included the registration of priests, the banning of foreign born clerics, and of the teaching of religion in schools. However, as Schell points out, the Catholic schools found ways to covertly continue to teach the religious content of the curriculum. For example, the schools continued to teach religion and religious history after hours. Moreover, SEP officials looked the other way concerning the practices of the Catholic schools.

The author abruptly stops her study in 1926, where the Cristero uprising breaks out and the archbishop of Mexico City imposes an interdiction on Mexico, a suspension of all religious activity in the country. Conceptually, this cut off does not make much sense, and the author and editors of the book should have continued the study to 1929 and the resolution of the church-state conflict. Normally, it is not fair to make comments about what the author should have done, but in this case it is a legitimate critique. There is no good reason offered for ending the study in 1926. This comment aside, Schell has written a very good study that is an important contribution to the literature on the church-state conflict. The conclusion, however, really does not fit well with the rest of the book.