Dynamite

The Pope's Christmas denunciation of Protestant proselyting in Rome was mild, local, legalistic (see above}.

Decidedly otherwise was the cognate condemnation of Protestantism in Mexico, harshly cried out last week by one of the Pope's subalterns, Indian-blooded Monsignor Pascual Diaz, Archbishop of Mexico. Monsignor Diaz was ejected from Mexico four years ago for pursuing his religious duties in ways which violated Mexican constitutional laws (TIME, Jan. 24, 1927 et seq.}.

He was then Bishop of Tabasco. He returned last year and joined with Delegate Leopoldo Ruiz y Flores to make a deal with the then President Emilio Fortes Gil whereby the law was conveniently relaxed. Since then the State has ceased to fret the Church, the Church the State. Meanwhile U. S. Protestant denominations, notably Methodists and Presbyterians, had been rushing into the religiously roiled country, have been vigorously evangelizing with prayerbook and purse. There is now a Methodist Church of Mexico.

Protestant success fretted the Catholic hierarchy until, last week, Archbishop Diaz burst out with a diatribe to which he shrewdly gave a nation and political tone. His argument was loaded with international dynamite:

"There is solid ground for believing that North American Protestant sects, moved by political motives, seek to aggravate religious perturbation in Mexico. It is scarcely conceivable that these sects are striving sincerely for religious uplift and the propagation of their own faiths since in their own United States, according to the official census, there are more than 60,000,000 North Americans without any religion whatsoever. . . .

"The Mexican people feel instinctively a repulsion from Protestant propaganda. The names Protestant, Methodist, Presbyterian fall on Mexicans as a species of stigma because of the marked character of the North American dominion all these Protestants bring to Mexico. Hence the popular opinion that Protestantism is one of the elements upon which a powerful neighboring nation counts to effect slowly but surely domination, hegemony or realization of its imperialism in our land."

Candle

Into the beautiful "Christ Child's Crib" in St. Joseph's Church at Ottawa, a little boy who had lit a candle to the memory of a dead relative last week overturned a tray of lighted candles. Although every fire engine in Ottawa came, the $450,000 church burned until only its blackened limestone walls remain.

St. Anthony's Lottery

The Franciscan Fathers at Athlone, Ireland, last week asked U. S. charitarians to gamble on a gamble. The Franciscans have 200 betting tickets on the Irish Free State Hospitals Sweepstakes, a horse race which occurs next March. First prize of this race will amount perhaps to $2,000,000; total prizes $5,000,000. The monks are offering their 200 tickets as prizes in their own lottery, at 25-c- the chance. Their inducement:

"We, the Irish Franciscans are appealing for the first time in our 700 years of history for help. We are rebuilding our church [of St. Anthony of Padua] that has been four times destroyed in times of persecution. Our people here are poor, and though they have done their best, we still need -L-10,000 or $50,000 to complete the new church in the center of Ireland. "Will you please give us a helping hand by disposing of the enclosed blank of tickets or sending us a donation? Every little helps and God will reward."

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