Participation of Women in Catholic Activism during the Cristero War in Mexico City (1926-1929)

Abstract

The present article examines the participation of Catholic women in Mexico City during the Cristero War (1926–1929), with particular emphasis on the Union of Mexican Catholic Ladies (Unión de Damas Católicas Mexicanas, UDCM). In contrast to a historiography focused on the Bajío region and male actors, it demonstrates that the urban female laity played a key role in the defence and continuity of religious life. In the same way, the study analyses the origins of the UDCM as the heir to nineteenth-century associations linked to social Catholicism and explores, during the Cristero conflict, its involvement in clandestine catechesis, material support, and moral resistance. Finally, it examines the transformation of the organization into the Mexican Catholic Female Union (Unión Femenina Católica Mexicana, UFCM), highlighting the reconfiguration of its identity and autonomy.