Another

Paul
~—6hBt Pierre

.PEACAPAN, SINALOA,
. MEXICO — Every
“Christmas season this village
and countless others in
Mexico have candlelight
parades to honor the Virgin
c ” Guadalupe.
The Dark Virgin's anniversary
as important as Christmas Day.
“itself and perhaps mare so.
“She is Mexico’s patron saint.
She appeared before the Indian
Juan Diego on the hill outside
“Mexico City, the identical hill
where the Aztecs had a shrine to
their main female goddess (a coin-
.' cidence which does not puss unno-
ticed among opponents of the
Roman Catholic Church).
‘The extraordinary thing is that
all these parades are illegal because
; they i are public religious displays.
“They’re carried on by the pecu-
lasly Mexican custom of bending
law to fit'circumstances. These, and
similar festivities at Easter, do not”
officially exist. Therefore the -
‘authorities do not interfere because
how can you interfere in something
: that ts officially not happening?
ce the: 1920s, when Graham
G eene. came over and wrote with’

as, ‘enjo: d' what some would call
he world’s ideal. relationship
between ‘church and state.
“That is; no relationship. AS
Voltaire said about God, “we don’t
peak | but we nod as we pass on the
street.” :
vol As Mr. Green could have
amed, if he’d come’as a journalist
nistead of as a promotor of his own
religion, Mexico's constitution
“never prohibited religion.
fy What it did was decree that reli-
gion like nudity, like sexual
"intercourse —- was a private matter
to be conducted privately. (11 was
also to be paid for privately. )
“>< The church's objection in the
"3920s took an extraordinary form.
. K went.on strike.
“ “° Priests refused to hear confes-
sions, issue absolutions or conduct
: last rites'for the dying.
+, Then an agreement was reached
“which persists today. Church and

state pretend each other do not
cxist.

The church does not recognize
civil marriages. the state docs not
recognize church marriages. So
many couples have bath and very
large numbers five together with
neither ceremany.

Priests and nuns are siill forbid-
den to appear on the streets in reti-
gious dress.

All Mexican governments are
officially atheistic since Camacha’s
time, even though every president's
family is seen to be active in church
alfairs,

President Salinas has further
weakened the atheist tradition by
opening diplomatic relations with
ihe Vatican and officially meeting
church leaders, to the boundless
distress of the anti-clericals.

Ore of the critics is Antonio
Haas. a syndicated newspaper
columnisi.

He wrote a withering comment
in Exelsior. Following Mexico's
recognition of the Vatican, the
church announced the beatification
of 23 Mexican “martyrs” of the
1920s repression.

Why, asked Mr. Haas, did this
siep taward sainthood have to wait
for political action? {f the men were
martyrs to their faith, why didn’t
the church recognize them two or
three generations ago?

When I spoke with Mr. Haas, an
erudite gentleman fluent in six lan-
guages, an agriculturist and a for-
mer editor of the Harvard student
newspaper, he told me he is not an
atheist.

“Good heavens, Jam a farmer.
Can any man who watches seeds
grow not believe in God?"

He is, however, anti-clerical and
proud of it.

How many are like him?

What is the power of the church,
to the extent it can be viewed in a
small, rural Mexican vilbage such
as this one?

There are three recognizable
religions in Teacapan. not couating
a few witches who have spells for ‘

sale. -

The Roinan Catholic Church is

“by far the dominant one. If outnum-

bered it is outnumbered only by — -
agnostics and many. of these non-
believers will marry in the Catholic
Church because they like the ser-
vice so much. The next group, in
terms of adherents, is Mormon and
the third is Sehovah’s Witnesses.

There are two Catholic church
buildings, an old shabby one in the
town square and a new one, uncom-
pleted, a few blocks away.

it has proven hard to find a
priest, they are in short supply and
village life does not appeal much to
the younger seminary graduates.

As in Canada, most of those
who visit church are ladies with
white hair. A few young fishermen.
who have a dangerous trade and
want all the help they can get, will
attend before going to sea.

Many men and women cross
themselves as they pass the altar
which shows thraugh the church's

: ‘Counterfeit case ongoing

“A MAN who. was arrested by
“police. and, civilians at-a pub on
*: charges of counterfeiting in North
~ Mancouver Jan. 14 was known to
be ‘armed, said a West Vancouver
Police spokesman,
= .. Santino Bruno Ciccozzi, 32, of
no fixed address, was arrested by
North’ Vancouver RCMP on a
* Canada-wide parole violation con-
-ceming a fraud investigation.
“On Jan. 13, the. police had
staked out a residence thought to be
-Ciccozzi’s in. the 1700 block of
Haywood Avenue. but the suspect
was not on the prentises.
A'‘police emergency. response
“team was.calied in because
 Ciccozzi was thought to.be armed

with a semi-automatic handgun and
a shotgun.

When police attempted to place
the.suspeci under arrest at the
Pemberton Station beer and wine
store. attached to a pub, he bolted.

Patrons and staff at the bar
helped tackle the 210-pound. (94
kg) Ciccozzi, who finally had to be
subdued using O.C. spray. a Mace-
like substance. Ciccozzi was not
armed when arrested.

He has been charged with one
count of possession of counterfeit
money, three counts of uitering
counterfeit money and one count of
resisting a peace officer.

The police investigation contin-
ues.

Blueberry Breast of Chicken in flakey pastry
a other Twilight Dinners

$y 95 junches $5.7

> Stowe
sooeee “i

open doors,

But apart trom Virgin of
Guadalupe Day, Chrisimas and
Easter, large numbers of people are
present only for weddings and
funerals,

The strongest impression a visit-
ing gringo cun gain is that the
church's influence is waning,
despite the government's recogni-
tion of the Vatican.

The signal is the same as it was
in Quebec in the 1950s and is now
in Jtaly. a drastic drop in the birth
rate.

When women begin using birth
control in clear defiance of the
Vitticun, it is the first sige that the
church has lost its strongest! power
base,

But, then. this is Mexico.

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