Catholic temples that witnessed the independence process of Mexico

The Independence process of Mexico not only developed in the battlefields, but also in Catholic enclosures that witnessed and protagonists of the most decisive moments in national history.

The Catholic Church, deeply rooted in the life of New Spain, became the framework in which calls for freedom, symbols of union and political meetings that led to the consummation of independence were gestated.

Several temples of the country, today considered historical heritage, keep the memory of those facts alive.

The place where the homeland was born

The parish of Our Lady of Dolores, in the current city of Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, is considered the cradle of independence. There, in the early hours of September 16, 1810, Fr. Miguel Hidalgo summoned the inhabitants from the bell tower to initiate the lifting against the Spanish domain, in what is known as the “shout of pain”.

The historian of the primed archdiocese of Mexico, Carlos Villa Roiz, Point out That at present in the temple are preserved books signed by Fr. Hidalgo, in addition to plates and statues that remember that day.

The bell that touched the priest, dedicated to San José, is currently in the National Palace, where the shout is reproduced every year as one of the most important traditions in the country.

The Virgin of Guadalupe as a banner

Another key temple was the Sanctuary of Atotonilco, in San Miguel de Allende, in the state of Guanajuato. There, on September 16, 1810, Fr. Hidalgo took as a banner an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which became the flag of the insurgents.

In the book The heroes of the transformations of Mexico … a military approach Published in the website of the Government of Mexico, he points out that under the protective mantle of the Virgin the people found a symbol of union and hope, to the degree that the cry “Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe!” It became a battle slogan.

The professor and the end of the war

Another fundamental temple was the professor, officially the rectory of San Felipe Neri, located in the historic center of Mexico City.

In this space, in the early 1820s, political meetings were held by the priest Matías de Monteagudo in what is known as the Professor Conspiracy.

According to the website of the Archdiocese of MexicoFrom these meetings, the appointment of Agustín de Iturbide arose as a commander of the army that defended the Spanish crown, but that he knew how to take advantage of his position to negotiate with Vicente Guerrero, insurgent leader, to join forces around the Iguala Plan and thus pave the way for the consummation of independence on September 27, 1821.

The last battle for independence

After the signing of the Plan de Iguala and with the conformation of the trigrator army, which linked both sides faced, Agustin de Iturbide became the first emperor of the newly formed nation that is known today as Mexico; However, resistance spotlights still persisted in favor of the Spanish crown.

One of the last clashes occurred on August 19, 1821 in the atrium of the current Cathedral of the Apostles Saints Felipe and Santiago, in the diocese of Azcapotzalco, where, where, where, where, where According to the website, The trigrator forces defeated the royalists in a fight in which the insurgent Encarnación Ortiz fell.

This victory cleared the way for the triumphal entry of Iturbide and Guerrero to the capital weeks later, being sealed in that religious enclosure the end of eleven years of struggle, today remembered with a commemorative monument.

Coronation of the first emperor of Mexico

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City was also the scene of a key episode after the consummation of independence: the coronation of Agustín de Iturbide as the first emperor in the country, on July 21, 1822.

At present, the religious enclosure houses the remains of Iturbide and the imperial throne is preserved, unlike other heroes whose remains were transferred to the Angel of Independence in 1925.