Anti-Red Crusade

Guatemala's Archbishop Mariano Rossell y Arellano, 59, has watched the bold encroachment of Communism on his country with growing dismay. Last week the greying archbishop sounded a nationwide alarm, denouncing the Red infiltration in a pastoral letter read from all the country's Roman Catholic pulpits:

"We raise our voice to alert Catholics at this moment when the worst atheistic doctrine of all time--anti-Christian Communism--continues its brazen inroads in our country, masquerading as a movement of social reform for the needy classes . . . Our frontiers are opened wide to a rabble of foreign adventurers trained in the tactics of international Communism. In violations of the laws of the land, ample freedom is given them. From the official radio stations are heard the incessant preaching of social disruption and the broadcasting of the teachings of the Soviet Politburo. Newsstands are flooded with Communist literature.

"The people of Guatemala must rise as one man against this enemy. Our struggle against Communism must be ... a crusade of prayer and sacrifice, as well as intensive spreading of the social doctrine of the church and a total rejection of Communist propaganda--for the love of God and Guatemala."

The impact of the archbishop's pronouncement was all the greater because he is a reserved, scholarly churchman who has always kept above the country's political controversies. For the government and its Communist friends, who have tried to give the impression that relations between church and state were close and friendly, it was a body blow. Indicating that his anti-Red crusade was only starting, the archbishop last week directed the clergy not only to read his message to their congregations, but to carry on the work actively by explaining the dangers of Communism to the people.

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