In the College of the Incarnate Word near San Antonio, Tex. sits Pope Pius' staff commander in the stern fight for Mexican souls, Monsignor Leopoldo Ruiz y Flores, still Apostolic Delegate to Mexico, though ousted by its Government (TIME, Oct. 17, 1932). Last week in the pages of Catholicism's Commonweal appeared stirring details of soul warfare between State and Church.
"Officially," declared the Apostolic Delegate to Commonweal, "only 300 priests are permitted in all Mexico, to serve 15,000,000 people, of whom nearly 90% were born into the Catholic faith; 300 priests, as compared with 360 generals in the army!
"Actually," continued His Excellency, "the number [of priests] remains trie same as after the deportations of 1926— around 3,000. No priest, unless forcibly ejected, leaves Mexico today without permission from his superior. When one of these is exiled or imprisoned, his place is filled by other Mexicans, who must now be secretly trained abroad for the priesthood—a number in schools and monasteries in the United States.
"Twenty-seven hundred priests now live in hiding in Mexico. . . . The people bring them chickens, eggs and potatoes to eat, so that they exist like the apostles of the first Christian days. . . . They say mass in secret chapels and keep the Holy Eucharist in private houses. Several months ago a law was passed confiscating any private dwelling where religious services were known to be carried on. And yet I have learned in the past week that in one State where not a priest is allowed, 83 priests are working in secret, and there in one day 30,000 people recently received Communion."
Though he chiefly blamed Political Boss and ex-President Plutarco Elias Calles for the persecution of priests in Mexico, Archbishop Ruiz, just, meticulous, declared that in one respect General Calles and the Holy See see eye to eye. "I do not believe Calles represents any danger to the principle of private property, which the Church likewise supports," observed her Apostolic Delegate, "but he does represent a threat to the Church. . . . Some of Calles' actions, such as the Government distribution of lands to the peons and the establishment of minimum wage laws in industry, have won a good deal of sympathy for him among the poorer people. But it still remains a fact that Calles is personally the richest man in Mexico. He owns El Mante, the richest sugar mill in Mexico, worth 10,000,000 pesos; the estate of Santa Barbara, worth 2,000,000; the estate of Soledad de la Mota worth 1,500,000, and is principal stockholder in three great corporations, the F. Y. V. Company, Peraleo Company and Azucan Company."
Beyond the reach of rich Boss Calles' revenge is the Apostolic Delegate but not the Primate of Mexico, Archbishop Pascual Diaz. No sooner had Archbishop Ruiz sounded off from the safety of Texas last week than Archbishop Diaz's secretary in Mexico City announced with anguish: "The Primate has been arrested and I cannot find out where he is! A milkman who saw six men force the Archbishop's car to halt in a town known as El Arbolito has just told me the dreadful news !"