The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-28
IN LATIN AMERICA.
Relation Of The Church And State
 Changing.

Boston Transcript.
 The announcement that Bolivia has established liberty of conscience and
 universal toleration is rather startling in this year of enlightment 1906. to those who have not realized how much the relation of church and State Is the ever troublesome question to our countries were covered with church grants when they started their wars of independence. These grants came down from the old Spanish regime and gave the clergy immense political pow CT which the South American patriots deemed 1t unwise to antagonizs cut right. Therefore in framing the Latin American constitutions the principle Of a State church was recognized.
 In many the exercise of all forms. of worship was permitted, but as a rule fn Latin-American countries the Ro- man Catholic religion Is that of the State. Several countries pay in whole or in part the cost of maintenance of the church or make contributions for that purpose, Bolivia has defrayed a large proportion of these expenses, and has borne all the cost of mission woflk among the Indians. Brazil has estab- Iished absolute equality of all faiths in theory, though in practice the Church of Rome enjoys a decided advantage
 
 for salaries and aintenance of the clergy which 1t found in existence when the empire was overthrown. Chile is tolerant and progressive, but the Cath ollie Church is the only one that draws financial aid from the public treasury. Argentina has come pretty near com- plete separation of State and church. for, while the constitution declares the Roman Catholic the national religion, there is in practice absolute tolera- tion and all faiths are. dependent on themselves for their progress to q greater degree than is common in Lat in-American countries.
 The extreme opposite theories Of the relations of State, and church in nations which recognize" enc faith are ex- pressed in the law and practice of Peru and Ecuador. Tn Peru the consti- tuition prohibits the public exercise of any other than the Roman Catholic religion. In practice the government has connived at non-Catholic worship, and has succeeded in establishing civil marriage for Protestants and others outside of the Roman fold. Ecuador, while declaring Catholicism the State religion, has practically taken over the administration of the church as a func- tion of the federal government.
 The church and it's property are un- der the control of the State. The foundation of new religious orders is prohibited, as is the entrance of those of foreign foundation. All bishops must be Ecuadorian citizens. Venezue-l la is not a nation which we should ordinarily regard as having religious convictions enough to be intolerant, and yet if prohibits the public exer- else of any non-Catholic faith. Mexi- co, our nearest Latin-American neigh bor, has brought about complete sep- aration of church and State. There is universal toleration not only in theory but in practice. The advancement of Latin-American peoples toward in6ie- pendence of clerical dsctation is meas- ured by their marriage system Chile not only has ''civil marriages" but it is the only form recognized by law. Argentina established civil marriages in 1888: Ecuador permits them.