The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-23
Hanging Judas Iscariot am Easter Feature Mexico


olics, and the great majority of them
believe in their religion. | am told that
there are 1l.000 churches and chapes in
the republic. and / find cathedral in
nearly every city l visit. The church
is supposed to be enormously wealthy.
At the time of the confiscation it had
property amounting to $500, ,000.000 and it
then owned almost 5000 estates which
We're valued at millions. 1t had more
than 22,0Oo lots here in Mexico City which
alone were worth over 100000 ,000 and
II mad property scattered here and there
throughout the republic. When Juarez
put the law of confiscation into effect
a great part of this property was put up
at auction and seId to the highest bidders,
pet 1t is said that those who bought risked
the d1sfavor of the church. and that
many took over the properties and held
tnem In trust so that the church got
them back Others gave to the church
the difference between the auction
price and what the property would fave
sod Tor under other conditions and in
thls way the church has regained much
OF Its millions. BY the new law marriage
was only valid through a civil contract.
but no well to do woman in Mexico VIII
consent to wedding unless she Is also
married by the church. and no priest
would give this blessing to a family who
mad acquired church property unless some
restitution was made. Today the owner
snip of the church is such that the party
III favor of holding together the great
estates in Mexico Is known as the church
party or Catholic party. and there Is no
doubt but that the church has enormous
wealth, IN one form or other
Churches Worth Millions
do not know how much has been spent
In church building in this republic, but
the sum must run high into the hundreds
of millions. The Catholic religion came
coli.
covered the new world. and the early
Spaniards prided themselves on their sup.
port of the church. A goody share or
all the gold and silver that was taken
out of the mines was donated to religion,
and every cathedral was treasure vault
filled with ornaments of silver and gold.
There is church at Chihuahua which
was built through a tax ri 25 cents on
every pound of silver produced in that
neighborhood, and this church cost s600,-
oe0 In Zacatecas the cathedral WAS
erected out OF a tax levied on the silver
mines under the city, and its income was
so great that Europe ransacked for
pictures and ornaments to decorate it.
1t has font of solid silver, which cost
more than $4,000, and in Spanish times
the church was ablaze with gold and sill
Yer candelabra and with cloths of woven
gold. Another church IN Zacatecas had an
altar of gold. and one at Queitaro had
gold altar which was burned by the
French. The Spaniards gave their jewels
and gold to decorate the cathedral at the
Mexican capital. and they presented orna-
ments worth about s2,Oo0.0OD while the
cathedral itself cost an equal amount TO
build.
There is a cathedral at Puebla which
cost $,50o,000. and in which 100000 has
been spent ON the altar. 1t is said to be
the most beautiful church on the conti-
nent. Guadalajara has cathedral COW
ering about an acre which was completed
about 300 years ago. 1t. has been almost
destroyed by earthquakes, which are now
common in that vicinity. The dome OF
that church was once shattered by light
ming, and when a thunderstorm comes up
they now ring the bells TO ward off the
lightning, although they. have lately put
up lightning rods for the same purpose.
The church has towers which are 200
feet high and which are Illuminated by
electricity. It has many fine paintings.
including one by Murillo, known as the
Assumption of the Virgin"
Professionalism in Mexico
As to Professionalism in Mexico, 1t has
never gained any great hold, although a
number of the different sects have their
missionaries here. The Baptists are rep
resented by the American Baptist Home
Missionary society and by the foreign
missionary board of the Baptist church,
south. The Presbyterian church has many
church buildings and it has day schools
and boarding schools and number of
missions. The Methodist Episcopal church
has 40 congregations, 80 day schools. six
high schools and one theological school, It
has a number of native preachers and
teachers, and 1t claims to have about
1900 adherents. There are also Episcopal
missions, but altogether the foreign mis-
sionaries are only several hundred and the
members of their churches are compare
lively few. FRANK G. CARPENTER.