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 the present, the decree will probably have the effect of freezing the Protestants in their present position: 11,958 members (out of a total population of 11,260,000) and 202 churches.

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