The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-10-03
THE CHURCH IN SOUTH AMERICA
SUMMARY OF ITS OFFICIAL
STANDING IN THE TEN RE-
PUBLICS.

l
is summed up by a writer in The
Month as follows:
Argentina.-The Constitution de
clares that the Catholic religion is
that of the nation. The State must
protect it though it does not hold the
position of State-endowed Church
The President and Vice-President
must be Catholics by profession
Nevertheless only secular education
is given in the State schools.)
BoiiVia.-The Catholic religion is de-
clared to be that of the nation, but
other forms of worship are tolerated
A small grant of few hundred dol
lars year is made towards the sup.
port of the seminaries and the In
dian missions.
BraziI.-Separation of Church and
State decreed on the proclamation OF
the Republic in 1889. But ''the Gov.
eminent left to the Church all relig.
ious buildings, and their properties
and income. The Catholic Church is
perfectly free; religious Orders are al
lowed and are prosperous. All but
about 100000 of the population are
Catholics"
ChiIi.-"The Catholic religion is
maintained by the State, but accord,
ing to the Constitution all religions
are respected and protected"
Columbia.-"The religion of the ma,
ton is Roman Catholicism, .
other forms of religion being permit
ted, so long as their exercise is not
contrary to Christian morals nor to the
law Nearly all the second
airy schools maintained or assisted by
the nation are entrusted to religious
corporations of the Catholic Church.
Ecuador.-"The Church of the Re-
public, according to the Constitution
is the Roman Catholic. Its
income, in substitution for tithes, is
annually provided for N the esti
mates. In 1904 law was passed
and promulgated placing the Church
and its property under the control OF
the State, and forbidding the founda
ton of new orders, or the entrance
of foreign religious communities into
the country. All members of the
episcopate are required to be Ecua
dorian citizens. Civil marriages are
obligatory in accordance with regula
tions prescribed by the law of Deem
Der, 1902"
Paraguay.-"The Roman Catholic
religion is the established religion OF
the State, but the free, exercise OF
other religions is permitted. .
The law of civil marriage was intro
duced in 1898."
Peru.-The Catholic Church is that
Of the nation. by the terms of the
Constitution there exists absolute poll
teal but not religious freedom, the
fourth article of the Constitution pro-
hibiting the public exercises of any re
ligion but the Roman Catholic, which
is declared the religion of the State
But practically there is a certain
amount of tolerance, there being An.
glican churches and missionary
schools in Callao, Lima, Arequipa, and
Cuzco. On October 3, 1913, however,
both chambers agreed to amend Arti-
Gle 4 of the Constitution as to grant
full religious liberty. Before the
amendment can become law it must
be passed by another Congress. The
churches and converts are the proper
ty of the State. The State pays about
$4,000 annually for the purposes of
public worship
Uruguay.-"The Roman Catholic is
the State religion, but there is COM
plete toleration.'
VenezueIa.-"TheR Roman Catholic is
the State religion, but there is COM
plete liberation of all Others"
In Venezuela-as in Ecuador-the
Government has attempted to assert a
right of veXatious interference in &C.
clesiastical matters. But as a rule a
South American Republic, while recog-
nizing Catholicity as the religion of
the people, does not give the Church
the position of an Establishment, and
thus it's independence of state control
is secured. In some cases a small
contribution is made from the budget
to the support of the seminaries and
of the Indian missions. The sum is
nowhere a large one. The Church in
South America is supported directly
by the people. Only in Chill is any
large part of the expense of maintain
ing the churches and clergy paid by
the State
Only few months ago the Legisla-
tive Congress of Colombia decreed
that the Eucharistic Congress held in
the capital, Bogota, should be ma
tional celebration, and that it should
be commemorated by a monument
with an inscription setting forth that
the nation thanked God for it's peace
and prosperity, and through its elect.
ed representatives rendered homage
alteration and grateful thanksgiving
to our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, in the
august mystery of the Eucharist. 2
The resolution was unanimously voted
by the legislature. Proposed by the
Prime Minister, it was seconded by
Senior Mejia, who had in past years
been the leader of the Masonic anti
Catholic party. After abiding to this
he said:
'But / have learned that God is the
very base of the social edifce, and ]
proclaim today, before this assembly
of the most distinguished men of my
country, that Christ lives, Christ
reigns, Christs triumphs. AS | once
resolutely championed the cause Of