Viva Cristo Rey
in Louisiana
Viva Cristo Rey (Long
Live Christ the King) was the motto for this year’s
Call to Chivalry Summer Camp for boys held at the Feliciana
Retreat Center in Norwood, La. from June 29 - July 9.
The camp was co-sponsored by the American Society for
the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) and
St. Louis de Montfort Academy.
This year’s camp motto was immortalized
by militant Mexican Catholics, called Cristeros,
who fought to defend the Faith during the Mexican Revolution
of the 1920s. Facing martyrdom, the Cristeros,
such as Fr. Miguel Pro and Luis Segura Vilchi, would proclaim
their Faith instants before death by shouting “Viva
Cristo Rey!”
To learn more about these amazing Catholics,
over forty boys, ages 12-18, traveled from all over the
South and as far away as Scotland and Ireland to attend.
Camp activities included horseback riding, canoeing, archery,
falconry, and paintballing.
More important than the games, the camp
offered intellectual and religious formation on topics
such as: the history of the Mexican martyrs and Cristeros,
Christ the King, the meaning of life, the Ten Commandments,
persecution of Catholics in America, the medieval order
and the Revolutionary process that has been decimating
the remnants of Christian civilization for centuries.
“This year’s meetings
were fantastic!” said camp attendee Kenneth Murphy.
“I really enjoyed learning about history and defending
the Faith from a Catholic perspective.”
On July 4, camp participants were fortunate
to watch Baton Rouge’s thirty minute firework display
from on board the destroyer U.S.S. Kidd, permanently
moored in the Mississippi River. “I have watched Baton
Rouge’s fireworks display every year since I can remember,”
said camp participant Philip LaBauve. “But watching
the fireworks on board the Kidd was a totally new experience.”
July 6 was “Cristero day.”
The camp was decorated with Mexican ponchos, spurs and sombreros.
After normal daytime activities, which included horseback
riding, archery and swimming, the boys feasted on Mexican
food.
After dinner there was a play depicting
a Cristero martyr and making an application for
today..
The camp ended in hallmark TFP style with
medieval games and a medieval banquet in the camp’s
outdoor pavilion. Several of the boy’s parents worked
together to provide a Cajun banquet fit for a king that
included five different types of meat, potato salad, beans
and jambalaya. Parents joined their sons in the dinner presided
over by Msgr. Berggreen of St. Agnes Parish in Baton Rouge.
After dinner awards were announced, souvenirs
given and slides of the 2004 summer camp projected.
As the evening finished, the boys
left tired, well-fed and ready to defend the Faith in
today’s hostile culture following the example of
the Cristeros.
