From resistance to charity. Towards the Ideal, a feminine catholic bulletin for the modus vivendi in Sonora (1939-1940)

Abstract

In the context of the third anticlerical wave which unfolded in Mexico during the decade of the thirties, the State of Sonora developed an anti fanatic campaign, designed and financed by the state government, whose objective focused on disappearing religiosity from the Sonoran culture through diverse actions such as the closing of temples, expulsion of priests and prohibition of public worship, within others. In this scenery, under the supervision of the Sonoran diocese and taking the Catholic action as a banner, laywomen lead the resistance through different strategies that were effective to revert the effects of the campaign and made them participate in the political arena turning them into valid interlocutors with influence in the resolution of this conflict, which meant the definite establishment of the modus vivendi in the state. This article approaches the configuration that took place within the participation of organized Catholic women after the crisis that came with the anticlerical campaigns through the analysis of the “Towards the Ideal” bulletin, founded in 1939, directed by Francisca Rodriguez which was in focus to the feminine public, which had the Bishops approval and supervision. We propose that the publication configured a public discourse that promoted a feminine duty based on the Virgin Mary, committed to Catholic action, not understood as a resistance or political incidence, but more likely as an opportunity for charity which in the end would help to consolidate for social intervention of the Sonoran diocese project.