José María Teclo Morelos Pavón y Pérez

Father Mi-Miguel Hidalgo, Catholic priest, and Father Costilla, Catholic priest, they were widely remembered as two of the leaders who launched Mexico's independence movement.

On September 16th, 1810, the date commemorated as Mexico's Independence Day, these priests raised a call for revolt against S- against Spanish rule.

And another priest, Father José María Morelos, continued the struggle after Father Hidalgo's capture and execution.

Father Morelos helped organize the insurgency and convened an independent congress.

The 1917 Mexican Socialist Constitution separated church and state, and as Pope Pius XI later described it in 1926, Pope Pius XI wrote an encyclical called, quote, On the Persecution of the Church in Mexico.

That's a papal letter that the pope wrote to the president of Mexico.

And the pope said that Mexico and the government had denied the church civil rights, restricted Catholic priests, and subjected worship and church property to extensive state control.

The pope denounced the violent persecution of Catholic priests by the government and called out the government for violating its promises to the church.

As a result, some of Mexico's great military heroes were of African descent.

For example, José Morelos.

really

a major guerrilla fighter that helped liberate Mexico with the assistance of other peoples of African descent.

Puddles form in the depressions, reflecting the gray sky and the spires of the Catedral de Morelia rising in the distance like a jagged crown.

This city was founded as Valladolid in 1541, renamed only in 1828 to honor José María Morelos y Pavón, the independence hero born right here.

Walking these streets feels less like tourism and more like stepping into a living museum that refuses to stay still.

The air smells of wet limestone and roasted corn from a street bender setting up under an awning near Plaza de Armas.