Honor thy father, and thy mother: loyalist priests and the support of Spain during the Mexican war of Independence

Includes bibliographical references (pages 69-72)The Mexican war of Independence was fought at many levels, the military, the social\ud and economic as well as the religious. The position of the Catholic Church, one of the\ud most important and influential arms of the Spanish Kingdom in Mexico, played a\ud substantial role during the war. Catholic clerics were on many levels the frontline\ud representatives of the Crown. The manner and the message they preached, attempted to\ud guide the political stance of Mexican society. The large Criollo population, by the time of\ud the war had established themselves as Mexicans and no longer considered themselves\ud exclusively Spanish. They were citizens of two patrias, the European, which ruled them\ud and the American in which they were born, raised and for many the only one they knew.\ud Defining where their patria was, and who belonged to it, was an important step in the\ud direction of independence.\ud The Catholic Church was at a crossroads during the war of independence. Many of the\ud curates, like the rest of the population viewed themselves as Mexican, with loyalty to\ud Spain. The priests were caught between the difficult position of defending and advocating\ud for a King who was no longer in power and a nation that many had never seen. Others\ud chose to fight and defend the American patria they knew. This was a difficult issue, since\ud as members of the clergy, their loyalty was with the Church and by default with Spain.\ud To be Catholic was to be Spaniard and vice-versa. Analyzing some of the sermons that\ud were read and then printed for circulation in the early stages and during the war, gives a\ud small sample of the political ideology of some of the priests who chose to remain loyal to\ud Spain. Through religious discourse, they advocated loyalty to King, God and Country.\ud Here it is shown that at least in the metropolitan cities of Mexico, there existed some\ud debate during the war as to where loyalty should be. The Church and their sermons are an\ud example of the perspectives and arguments presented by those who chose to remain loyal\ud to Spain. The priests were clearly in a difficult position, but found some ease in their\ud religion and in the Bible, which they used to express their political ideology