The Greater Glory: New Blockbuster Film Coming to America June 1st

I want to tell you about an upcoming movie that your family might enjoy which just opened in Mexico last week and is coming to America on June 1st. The star of the movie, Andy Garcia, described it this way: “It broke all records in Mexico as the second highest grossing film since Titanic. It’s a universal, international story for the world. It’s a story that needs to be told.”

Garcia is referring to the Cristero Wars which raged in Mexico from 1926 to 1929.

Fellow actor Eduardo Verastegui, who called this new film “the Schindler’s List of Mexico,” agreed. “I learned that the reason we weren’t taught this in public schools [in Mexico] is because it was an embarrassment to the government.”

The movie, which also stars Eva Longoria and Peter O’Toole, is called For Greater Glory and asks the ever-important question “What price would you pay for freedom?”

For Greater Glory tells of the grassroots uprising and counter-revolution against the corrupt Mexican government in response to severe persecution of Roman Catholics. Some of earliest atrocities that sparked the revolution included the murder and execution of priests who chose to resist the unlawful restrictions of the 1917 Mexican Constitution.

The rebels were called “Cristeros” because they fought for “Cristo Rey” (Christ the King). Although strong in faith and in numbers, their weapons often consisted of crude muskets and wooden clubs. There was also a group of Mexican women from all classes in society whose mission was to support and provide medical aid to the soldiers; eventually, this “Feminine Brigade of Saint Joan of Arc” numbered over 25,000!

After doing more research on the Cristero War, I learned with a heavy heart that our American government supplied the Calles administration with arms and ammunition to help fuel the unjust persecution.

Eventually, this war claimed the lives of 90,000 people and many civilians and Cristeros were murdered in anti-Catholic raids even after the war had “officially” ended.

The issue of religious liberty is fundamental and has been faced by civilizations across the globe since time began ; in America we faced it at the beginning during the Revolutionary War days – now, the issue is surfacing yet again.

For Greater Glory is a dramatic portrayal of how the Mexican people faced the prospect of losing their religious liberty. And although many gains were made for freedom, the situation in Mexico even today remains strained. It was only recently that priests were finally allowed to wear clerical garb in public. But Mexican law still forbids any religious institution from owning TV or radio stations and newspapers. Likewise, all public religious worship has to be approved by the state.

Dramas like For Greater Glory don’t just entertain. They educate and inspire and especially remind us (especially in America) to count the blessing of religious liberty as the highest and greatest.

Probably one of the first criticisms the movie will spark is whether the Cristeros were justified in actually taking up arms against the government. Andy Garcia preempted this objection in the interview when he said “Nobody wants a war, but when they take away the right to that basic freedom from someone, especially people who have a deep faith, it turns out there are people who are ready to die for that freedom.”

Verastegui said “My hope is that when people see it they will leave entertained, with a spark in their heart, and not afraid to be heroes. I hope they will leave inspired to do the right thing, that they will love more, and that they’ll fight for something bigger than themselves and ready to die to self, and to learn from the mistakes of the past so that we will not repeat them.”

You can read more of the For Greater Glory interview at http://www.ncregister.com/blog/tim-drake/andy-garcia-and-eduardo-verastegui-talk-about-for-greater-glory#ixzz1tYMUUqvY.

You can view the trailer here and become a fan on Facebook to see more photos and get the latest updates!

NOTE: Since I have not seen the movie yet (only trailers and stills and feedback from those who have attended screenings) I would encourage you to find out more before deciding what age the film is appropriate for. It will most likely be rated R for violence, so my husband and I will go see it first in theaters and then judge if our older children will be able to watch it.

I’d love to hear your comments about this post!