Title: What Was the Cristero War? - WorldAtlas
Headings: What Was the Cristero War?
What Was the Cristero War?
Background
Church-State Conflict
Truce
The end of Hostility between the Church and the State

Content: The rebellion was popular in rural areas and had the support of the Catholic Church. La Cristiada was a major struggle between the church and state. Background
During the Mexican revolution that took place from 1910-1920, the Catholic Church and state made an informal agreement not to implement anticlerical articles of the 1857 constitution. After the change of the country’s leadership, northern revolutionaries targeted the Catholic Church with violent anticlericalism. The new regime strengthened anticlerical criminal laws in 1926 and enforced them because the state felt that the Church was too powerful. The widespread peasant revolts on land rights in Catholic majority regions at the time also led to a ban on religious celebrations, thus initiating conflicts that killed thousands fighting for religious freedoms. Both the Catholic and government groups engaged in unconventional terrorist like attacks throughout the war. Church-State Conflict
At the time, the Catholic Church was very powerful and had many followers. In many instances, they openly participated in politics through denouncing some political activities, supporting other activities and befriending factions of politicians. The Calles Laws were enacted to clip the wings of the church.