POLITICS AND RELIGION AT WAR

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 33, 2 May 1927, Page 11

POLITICS AND RELIGION AT WAR

MEXICO PICTURED UNDER HEEL OF TYRANNOUS RULE BISHOP LISTON’S ADDRESS An atheist Government influenced by Bolshevism, and intolerant of Christian beliefs of any sort, is at present waging war on religion in Mexico, according to Dr. Liston, coadjutor Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, who, preaching at 11 o'clock mass yesterday, pictured the alarming plight of the Mexican people. “In New Zealand," said Dr. Liston, “it is recognised that every citizen lias a right to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience, and all religious bodies —Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic and the rest—are recognised as legal corporations with power to carry on works of religion, education, and social welfare. They may own land and erect churches, schools, orphanages, colleges for training ministers; they may receive bequests and possess endowments, and protect their property rights in the courts. All this is to the good because it safeguards the claims of. conscience and cultivates the spiritual life, px'omoting both the happiness of the people and the stability of the Government. ATHEISTS IN POWER The speaker then turned to the present state of affairs in Mexico. The Catholic faith, brought there by the Spanish missionaries three centuries ago, was alive to-day in the hearts of 9S per cent, of the people. But political power was in the hands of avowed atheists. They were enforcing the Constitution of 1917 which “The Times" (London) described as “reflecting the views of a very small minority of the people.” Neither at the time of its framiijg, when 30,000 out of fifteen million voted, nor since, had any Mexican Government dared to submit that Constitution to the judgment of the people. There were no churches in Mexico, and the laws not only affected the Roman Catholic Church, but were directed against every form of religious worship without discrimination. All church property was confiscated and the law further provided that no clergyman but a native-born Mexican might officiate in any act of worship “If we had a law like that in New Zealand, the Bishop of London could not have preached here recently, nor Gipsy Smith,” said the speaker, who addd “that hundreds of non-Catho-lic ministers now working in the Dominion would have to retire if there were such laws here. “ ‘AH religious acts of public . worship shall b e celebrated absolutely within the church/ runs another law. If that were in force here there could be no broadcasting of religious services and no religious Anzac Day service in the Town Hall,” was the comment of Dr. Liston. “And,” he added, “if that law had held in the days of old, St. Paul could not have spoken on Mars Hill, in Athens, nor Our Saviour have preached the Sermon on the Mount.”. SPIRIT OF BOLSHEVISM The spirit of the Mexican Government to-day was the spirit which prompted the Pagan Roman State to endeavour to crush Christianity at its birth, which forbade the exercises of religion during the French Revolution, and which now ruled in Russia. The Government was up in' arms against all religion and even against God himself. “The pretence that Mexico’s rulers are enlightened and progressive statesmen, waging a holy war against superstition and priestly arrogance, deceives only those who wish to be deceived,” said Dr. Liston in conclusion.