Mexican RCs get recognition at last

THE Catholic Church will soon be granted legal recognition by the Mexican government for the first time since 1917, if the expected removal of official constraints on religious bodies goes ahead as planned.
President Carlos Salinas de Gortari is thought to be preparing an amendment to the national constitution which will normalise the relationship between Church and state in preparation for Pope John Paul II's visit to Mexico in May. Article 130 of the Mexican constitution. drawn up in 1917, states that the law "does not recognise any legal capacity whatsoever of the religious groupings known as churches".
In late December 1989 the Mexican daily newspaper Unomasuno reported Vatican delegate Archbishop Girolamo Prigione as saying he believed the government would announce the new proposals in February. Archbishop Prieione susequently denied suggesting a probable date for the changes, and most now do not expect the matter to be resolved until the
Mexican Congress reconvenes in The modification to Article 130 is unlikely to meet any significant opposition in either the Senate or the Chamber of Deputies when the issue comes up for debate. The requirement fora two-thirds majority is thought to be little more than a formality.
President Salinas is also considering establishing diplomatic relations with the Vatican for the first time since Mexico's independence from Spain in 1821. A decision on whether or not to commence diplomatic relation, vs ith the Holy See could be taken without consulting Congress. but observers belic‘c that the president will wait until the constitutional changes to Article 130 have been made before taking such a step.
The Vatican has not hal an ambassador in Mexico since Its independence and with t he exception of a ten-month period in the 1860s has never before named a papal nuncio to the country,