Viva Cristo Rey!

Saint Padre José María Robles Hurtado (born 1888) was arrested on June 25, 1927, for saying a prayer in the home of the Agraz family, who were hiding him at the time. He was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged from an oak tree.

The next day, before dawn, he was led to the tree. In a final display of compassion for his executioners, he offered them a small votive candle that he had in his pocket to help light the path to the tree where he was to be hanged. Upon arriving there, he forgave the men for what they were about to do. He took the noose into his own hands, saying "Don't dirty your hands" to the man who brought it, kissed it, and placed it around his own neck.

The Constitution of 1917, which prohibited any public processions or other devotional practices, was the law.

Years before his arrest and execution, Padre Hurtado proposed the creation of a huge cross to be placed in the geographic center of Mexico, which he said would be symbolic of how Mexico recognized Christ as its king, and organized a public ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone of the cross, in direct violation of the existing constitution.

In anticipation of the laying of the cornerstone, signs were placed throughout Mexico proclaiming Christ the "King of Mexico", and declaring the nation’s devotion to the Sacred Heart. In 1923, an estimated 40,000 Roman Catholics made their way to the site of the cross to take part in the groundbreaking ceremonies at the hill, which was at the time called "La Loma" and is today called the mountain of Christ the King.

--- From Wikipedia

Viva Cristo Rey! was the cry of the Cristados.