Church K. State

The government of reform-minded Luis Munoz Marin, in 20 years of power, has done wonders for Puerto Rico. But on the heavily Roman Catholic island it has incurred the sturdy opposition of Brooklyn-born James Edward McManus. who is Bishop of Ponce, the island's second-largest city. In a pastoral letter last week. Bishop McManus launched his most formidable attack yet. "The form of government that prevails in Puerto Rico, in spite of its material accomplishments, disregards its obligations with respect to the divine !aws," he said. He asked Catholics to throw out Governor Munoz' Popular Democratic Party in November's election, by voting for a newly formed Christian Action Party (P.A.C.).

Bishop McManus, 59, who arrived in Puerto Rico as a missionary in 1929, became bishop in 1947. Two years later he denounced overpopulated Puerto Rico's legalization of birth control. Bishop McManus is also sad set against a Puerto Rican law that divorces couples who have been separated for three years, and against sterilization of women, a relatively simple procedure in public hospitals.

Last May a bill reached the floor of the Puerto Rican legislature authorizing public school students to take off an hour a week for religious instruction. Pointing out that because of a shortage of classrooms and teachers 62% of Puerto Rico's public school children get only three hours of education a day, Governor Munoz strongly opposed the bill and it was defeated. A month later Bishop McManus told Catholics in a pastoral letter: "The philosophy of your government makes it responsible for the moral evils that cloud and deChristianize our society." He urged the people to give their support to the newly launched Catholic party.

Munoz dismisses the vote-getting strength of the new party, which he estimates at 50,000 votes out of the island's 900,000. But Munoz does worry about the "explosive emotions" that a clerical party might arouse, and wishes the bishop would stay out of politics.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.