«Una turlupinatura stile messicano». La Santa Sede e la sospensione del culto pubblico in Messico (luglio 1926)

This essay aims to illustrate the role played by the Holy See in the explosion of the Cristero war in Mexico (1926-1929). Unpublished documents from the Vatican Archives (Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, Apostolic Delegation in Mexico, Apostolic Delegation in the Antilles) and the Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu allow to shed new light on a key event that led to the outbreak of the Cristiada – i.e., the suspension of public worship in July 1926. Far from being desired by the majority of the Mexican Episcopate, this crucial decision appears to be the result of a political maneuver led by a small and uncompromising group of Jesuits who were able to work around the diplomatic network of the Holy See and obtain direct consensus from Pius XI himself.