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Content: On July 12, 1857, Juárez confiscated all
        church properties, suppressed all religious orders, and empowered the
        state governors to designate what buildings could be used for religious
        services. Mexico's first religious civil war was fought between 1857 and
        1860 in reaction to the legislation (see Civil War and the French
        Intervention, ch. 1). The constitution of 1917 highlighted and institutionalized many of
        the nineteenth-century secular reforms. The new constitution included at
        least five articles that affected all religious groups, regardless of
        denomination. These articles, which remained in effect until 1992,
        appeared to preclude any national role for the Roman Catholic Church. Article 3 forbade churches from participating in primary and secondary
        education. Article 5 prohibited the establishment of religious orders. Article 24 mandated that all religious ceremonies occur within church
        buildings. Article 27 gave the state ownership of all church buildings.