COLOMBIA: Missionary Freeze

After Lieut. General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla overthrew the ultra-Conservative regime of President Laureano Gomez last summer, some U.S. Protestant missionaries hopefully reported an apparent slackening in government restrictions on Protestants in Colombia. But President Rojas is a Conservative too, and state Catholicism is a prime plank of any Conservative government in Colombia. Last September the Rojas regime banned Protestant activity in 18 "mission territories" in remote parts of the country. Last week the government announced a further curb: Protestants may no longer engage in religious activities outside their churches, though within the churches they will not be molested. For...

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