Quiraeo.
The spirit of Ecuadorian devotion to the Blessed Virgin. as manifested in a series of Marian assemblies culminating in the solemn coronation of the image Nuestra Senora de Otrinche. will lead. it is hoped, to the founding of a Catholic University here. To establish such an institution was resolved at the National Marian Congress which preceded the Coronation, and donations for this purpose have already been made.
The Marian Congress also petitioned the Ecuadorian Episcopate to call a National Catholic Indigenous Congress to intensify activities for the solution of native problems, for furthering morally and economically the Christianisation of the Indians, and for waging a campaign against alcoholism among the Indians.
Other resolutions adopted at the Congress called for the organisation of a temperance league among the workers, the holding of a National Catholic Labour Congress in the near future, the forming of a confederation of Catholic schools, the establishment of a Catholic writers' society, restrictions against pornographic publications, wider extension of Catholic Action in the social field. as well as increased devotion to the Blessed Virgin in the home through the recitation of the family Rosary. To encourage ,wider reading of the Bible. a plan was approved for the publication of the Gospels in inexpensive editions.
El Cornercio. Quito's daily, commenting on the Marian ceremonies in an editorial headed " Profession of Faith," said: " We have won for our country one of the elements which make up the Inalienable human liberty : religious freedom."