Hmm...do you think Mexico will take the U.S.'s place in thinking it's the
"New Israel"?

MLW+
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Scott" <crscott@...>
To: <faithandlife@...>
Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 7:56 AM
Subject: [FaithandLife] CHURCH STATE RELATIONS IMPROVING IN MEXICO


>
>
>
> Mexican Flag Honored in Cathedral
>
> 150-Year Taboo Broken
>
> MEXICO CITY, SEPT. 17, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Breaking a 150-year
> taboo, the archbishop primate of Mexico honored the national
> flag in the courtyard of the metropolitan cathedral.
>
> A student escort entered the edifice on Sunday bearing the
> national flag, which was honored by Cardinal Norberto Rivera,
> auxiliary bishops and the faithful. The congregation sang the
> national anthem, El Universal newspaper reported.
>
> The hymn was followed by a message, read by the cardinal on
> the occasion of the 192nd anniversary of Mexican independence.
>
> He appealed to the people to seeks ways of reconciliation and
> forgiveness, and unity and progress. He concluded exclaiming:
> "Long live Mexico!" "Long live independence!" "Long live our
> patriotic symbols!"
>
> Commenting on this unprecedented gesture in modern Mexico,
> which has strictly interpreted the concept of church-state
> separation, Father Luis Felipe García, master of ceremonies at
> the cathedral, said: "We are living in new times."
>
> "We are about to celebrate 10 years of church-state relations," he
> added. "We are not involving ourselves in what is not our
> domain; we only ask God to bless this nation."
>
> For most of the 20th century, the Church in Mexico had no
> juridical recognition. Priests were stripped of most civil rights.
>
> The situation is the legacy of the Reform Laws, which in 1859
> confiscated all Church properties. More-radical laws,
> promulgated in 1910 and 1920, caused one of the bloodiest
> religious persecutions of the century.
>
> Vicente Fox, the first president in seven decades who is not a
> member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), broke a
> political taboo last July 30 when he welcomed John Paul II at
> Mexico's international airport and kissed his ring.
>
> * *
>
>
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