Spanish Protestants May Have Freedom

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30368, 18 February 1964, Page 13

Spanish Protestants May Have Freedom

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

MADRID, February 16. A council of Spanish bishops has approved in principle an emancipation bill which would take Spanish Protestants a step nearer full religious freedom. The council acted against strong objections by some priests who urged that the privileged position of the Romain Catholic Church in Spain should be maintained. Church officials said the council’s decision must still be approved by tlhe Vatican.

Even'then it would not be effective until it was legally enacted by the Spanish Government. Under the proposed bill Protestants would have the right to practise their religion more openly. The final obstacle to complete religious freedom for Protestants is tlhe Concordat between the Spanish Government and the Holy See in 1953. Under the Concordat, churches other than the Roman Catholic Church are forbidden to .proselytise or advertise. Improvement of Spanish Protestants’ ■ position might require a re-negotiation of the Concordat. The bill is believed to have the support of Spain’s liberalminded Foreign Minister, Mr F. M. Castaella.

Inquiry Into Sect Wanted (N.Z. Press Assn.— Copyright) LONDON, February 17. An inquiry into the strict religious sect known as the Exclusive Brethren has been urged in the House of Commons by Mr R. G. Cooke (Conservative, Twickenham). He has tabled a motion calling on the churches to condemn the teachings of the sect leaders as not being consistent with Christianity. His motion accuses the sect of practising religious discrimination “whereby members of a family are not allowed to eat with, or have contact with, other members who are not Brethren,.” In this way, says the motion, hueband is separated from wife and children from parents. Mr Cooke said there were believed to be about 10,000 members of the extraordinary sect. White Slave Charges (N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) SAN FRANCISCO DEL RINCON (Mexico), Feb, 17. Skulls and bones found in a house owned by two of three sisters on white slavery murder charges were those of children eight to 12 years old, according to evidence in Court The remains were the first found in the case other than those of- women or new-born babies. Three sisters—Maria de Jesus. Maria Luisa, and Delfina Gonzalez Valenzuela—are charged with having murdered eight women and five babies at a “white slave conIcentration camp” near San Francisco Del Rincon.