Tuesday, May 5, 2026

It is the 5th of May 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

Good to be back in the plush CHA studios- thanks to all of you in Arkansas who came and said hi, introduced yourself to me, had me sign your CHA tote (shout out Michal)- it’s always great to see and meet some of you in the flesh.

 

Today, the 5th of May, is of course Cinco De Mayo for many- and so I thought I’d take the opportunity to clear up a little about the Mexican-American holiday and place it in the context of church history, as that component is central to this oft-misunderstood holiday.

 

In America, we have “the 4th of July” as our Independence Day, and so “the 5th of May” is often assumed to be their Independence Day. Cinco De Mayo is the celebration of the Mexicans defeating the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862- their independence from Spain is celebrated on September 16th- this date dates from 1810 when the Independence movement from Spain was kicked off by the Priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla.

 

The story of Mexico from 1519 is that of Catholic Spain expanding its foothold in the New World. New Spain, as it was called, became a bastion for Catholicism from 1600 to 1800 (although there has always been a curious syncretism- a mix of indigenous beliefs blended with Catholicism- we’ve told the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe before as an example).

 

But by the 1800s, there was, as in much of the West, a push for the secular nation state to replace the old confessional model. That America had done this- disestablished the church- became a model for so-called “Liberals” across the globe.

 

In the Mid-19th century, there were the wars of Reform between the liberals, who wanted to disestablish the Catholic Church from the state, and the Conservatives, often backed by the old European and Catholic powers.

 

 

From 1861, Juarez and the new Liberal government established itself in Mexico City, and to stem the tide of an economic disaster, put a moratorium on paying its foreign debts. European expeditionary forces landed in Veracruz, Mexico, in 1861, and while the British and Spanish agreed to an arrangement, the French, under Napoleon III, took a more aggressive approach.

 

Napoleon’s approach was to garner the support of the Mexican conservatives who wanted a Catholic European-style prince to establish Catholicism as the state’s confession. And so your church history ears might perk up when you hear that Napoleon III chose Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of the Catholic Habsburg dynasty as his man. This was, according to old European Catholics, an important counterbalance to the overwhelming Protestant and disestablished United States.

 

It came to a head in April of 1862 when Juarez of the Liberal and secular Mexican government called on General Ignacio Zaragoza to muster troops at the city of Puebla- a key city on the route to the capital. And it was the Cinco de Mayo- this, the 5th of May, that the troops under Zaragoza repelled the French army. The dispute would last another 5 years, with help from America (who you might remember was kinda busy in the early 1860s), and by 1867, Maximilian was both arrested and executed- Juarez and the modern secular nation state of Mexico would prevail. The celebration of the Battle of Puebla is still celebrated in Puebla, but became a holiday primarily for those of Mexican heritage in the United States and abroad- you might see a parallel with the Irish and St. Patrick’s Day- a party celebrating a particular heritage, often stripped of its religious significance and celebrated by ex-pats and people looking for a good time.

 

So there you have it- the nexus of Cinco De Mayo and Church history with a confessional state vs. a secular nation, including a Habsburg and even a Napoleon. Today, about 80% of the Mexican population claims to be Catholic, albeit with a strong flavor of older Pre-Hispanic tradition that makes it unlike any kind of Catholicism practiced elsewhere, but that’s a story for another time.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and a verse from Proverbs 3 that spawned a million embroidered pillows:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
 and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,
 and he will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
 fear the Lord and shun evil.

This will bring health to your body
 and nourishment to your bones.

Honor the Lord with your wealth,
 with the firstfruits of all your crops;

then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
 and your vats will brim over with new wine.

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
 and do not resent his rebuke,

because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
 as a father the son he delights in.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 5th of May 2026, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who will certainly celebrate today with chalupas and Doritos Locos Tacos- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who is firmly on team Del Taco over Taco Bell- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.