Evening star., 1949-10-18

$o,4ou,Oou Is a poor substitute Tor an ap-
propriate bridge location from Arlington
to washington. FRANK LYON.
Letters on Spanish Freedom
Challenged as Inaccurate
To the Editor Of The Star:
The letter from Eduardo Proper de CAL
lejon, OF the Spanish embassy, published In
The Star on october 3, defends the Franco
regime against charges Of religious persecu-
ton. The letter itself, however, furnishes in
ternal evidence that the charges are true
Senor Callejon makes many assertions, but
nowhere does he assert that non-Catholics
IN Spain enjoy equality with Catholics.
AS he indicates. non-C Catholics in Franco
Spain are allowed to exist, and to enjoy
all the privileges Of second-class citizenship
They are, for instance. permitted to bury
their dead in "a special section (of all Span
1sh cemeteries) set aside for non-Catholics."
But Senor Callejon neglects to mention the
pertinent fact that non-Catholics in Spain
are forbidden to hold public funerals for
their deceased. or even to indicate on the
tombstones the non-Catholic religion Of the
deceased.
Reporter Quoted.
Senor Callejon invites the public to check
his assertions with the reports of American
correspondents. Very WELL A dispatch Of
The Associated Press correspondent, Louis
Nevtn, date-lined Madrid, July 20, reported:
franco promulgated Spanish bill of
rights July II, 1945. 1t provides that the
Cortes (parliament shall vote the neces-
sary laws for carrying out the rights rec
ognized in this BILL The Cortes has yet to
vote any Of these laws.
$50 $4,000, 900 people silently go on living
vvyS%h h~r,+ %IA h@ Is -
worship, correspondence and association,
without the rights of a habeas corpus act,
Or to work and own property. and without
guarantees against illegal arrest or entry Of
homes. all promised in the bill Of rights
and all In existence under the preceding Re-
public and monarchy.
". Freedom of assembly is permitted
for 1icit 0awfuD ends An act to codify
the provisions Of this clause has been before
the Cortes more than three years. The
Cortes act limits meetings to those in con-
formity with the spiritual, national and So
cial unity Of Spain and prohibits any op-
posed to Catholic morality Other restric-
tions practically make formation of political
parties impossible.
q. Frances official policy toward all
non-Catholic minorities is that: Catholicism
Is the state-protected religion Of the country,
but no one will be molested for his religious
beliefs nor in the private exercise of his
cult 50 long as there are no external mani
1estations. The government Interpretation
OF this clause effectively reduces Protestants
to sort OF Second-clasS citizens.
g. A Spaniard who has once been bap-
tized as Catholic is always Catholic and
may not marry Protestant.
More fundamental for the Protestant
church is ban on missionary work The
government correctly maintains that there
is Protestant publishing house in Madrid
But it does not add that the publisher has
not dared to publish single Protestant
work since the end Of the civil war. Both
missionary work and publication Of Protes-
tant literature were permitted under the
monarchy and the republic"
Eyewitness Reports Available.
Homer Bigart foreign correspondent Of
the New York Herald Tribune. and the late
William H. Newton. Scripps-Howard staff
alton in comprehensive articles published
earlier than Mr.. Nevins' report. Numerous
other eyewitness reports are available.
Senor Callejon's estimate Of five or six
thousand" Protestants in Spain conflicts
with an estimate by Catholic Action Of "less
than thirty five thousand" and an estimate
of five hundred thousand published In the
1948 Catholic Almanac.
The crowning irony In Senor Callejon's
letter is his reference to "a very well-known
Protestant, DR.. Araujo," who Is now Pro-
fessor Of Mathematics at the University Of
Zaragoza. For six years previous to this
appointment, Prof. Roberto Araujo was un-
employed because Of a government ban
against him. He had been dismissed from
the University Of Valencia because of his
v,ol3fico1 ord ro1joio,S af71iatiopS
STANLEY L1CHTENSTEIN
Associate Editor Church and State News
letter.