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 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. The rules were strict as priests were not allowed to wear their religious garbs outside church premises or criticize the government. In some areas, only a single priest was authorized to serve the church. Church properties, including schools, were seized and foreign priests expelled. Peaceful resistance by Catholics yield no results and led to small skirmishes in 1926 then to full violent uprisings in 1927. The rebels called themselves "Cristeros" and invoked the name “Cristo Rey”, meaning "Christ the King".