A short historical sketch of the work and influence wrought by the Catholic Church in Mexico since 1521, will not be found uninteresting to the Catholics, Protestants, Jews and even the Mormons of this country. American Catholics claim they do not tamper with politics; that this is one of the reasons for their high standing in the community. Lately, however, there has been a change in this policy; high dignitaries of the Church have come out in the press with worldly opinions on subjects such as suffrage and Mexican affairs. They have attacked the representatives of the different parties in Mexico and members of the Wilson administration have not escaped, but this same Church and friends have consistently defended Huerta and his régime, and have initiated a campaign of agitation against the Constitutionalists in favor of American Intervention. If the high dignitaries of the Catholic Church want to meddle in politics then they surely must not claim immunity from counter attacks or hide under the cloak of religion or of their own sacred personalities. Besides, the American Catholic laymen want to be informed of both sides of the controversy. When Hernando Cortez had conquered Mexico in 1521, he soon realized that soldiers alone could not control the millions of Indians which had come under the rule of the Spanish king. Thousands of priests, nuns and friars were, therefore, imported from Spain; the priests soon settled in the cities and the monks in the country. They established and built monasteries and churches from Uruguay to California. In 1524, four Bishoprics were founded, in 1571 the Holy Inquisition was established by the Dominicans and two years later the first "auto da fe" act of faith took place. The Jesuits arrived in Mexico in 1572. It can be safely asserted that the colonization of New Spain was achieved by the different religious orders; they christianized the Indians and made them work on churches, monasteries and on their farms for their own benefit. The Jesuits and the Franciscans did endeavor to foster learning in the new land, but with limited success, owing to the fact that they taught only the sons of Spaniards and the Indians they taught to memorize the prayers in their own language. Although they were expelled in 1767, their work was very useful and they made themselves conspicuous from the other orders in the zeal with which they noticed the observances of their own rules. They were the teachers of the creoles and mestizos of New Spain, and dominated by their science, sobriety, chastity and their insinuating spirit. It is a strange commentary on the logic of Catholics that they consider the expulsion of religious orders from Mexico under the Laws of the Reform (1859) for meddling in politics, as an unjust measure and an attack on religious liberty, when as a fact, they never protested when that most Catholic majesty, the king of Spain, Charles |