Scholars of the Mexican Revolution have tended to ignore or, at least, not prioritize in their analyses the significance of the anti-Catholic nature of that social movement. Yet efforts to control the church drew attention and concern on the U.S. side of the border. Matthew Redinger’s new work takes us into one aspect of that interaction, looking at the ways in which specific Roman Catholic leaders and lay groups tried to influence U.S. political leaders in regard to Mexico’s postrevolutionary government. Redinger shows that not all church leaders, let alone laypeople, favored involvement of any kind, yet there were those who took strong stances. He analyzes some of these actors to give us a wide-ranging understanding of the various points of view of those seeking U.S. government action.
This work is not about the Mexican Revolution per se; it is about the reaction to it on the U.S. side of...
