The Epistle was not a private letter but an official text written around , during the height of the Reform War (1857–1861). President Benito Juárez’s liberal government had just enacted the Law of Civil Marriage (Ley del Matrimonio Civil) on July 23, 1859, which declared marriage a civil contract rather than a religious sacrament. To accompany this law, Ocampo—then Minister of Interior—was asked to draft a document that would be read aloud to couples during their civil ceremony. This document became known as the Epístola .
En este contexto, Melchor Ocampo, un destacado político y abogado mexicano, escribió la epístola que lleva su nombre. La carta fue dirigida a los "señores curas y pueblo de Tlalixcoyan" y se publicó en el periódico "El Eco de México" en 1859. la epistola de melchor ocampo pdf
To fully appreciate the epistle, we must set the stage. The Reform War ( Guerra de Reforma ) was a civil war between liberals ( Liberales ), who wanted a secular state with constitutional guarantees, and conservatives ( Conservadores ), who defended ecclesiastical privileges and a centralized monarchy. The Epistle was not a private letter but