Unrest in Portugal

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 13, 1911

Unrest in Portugal

EVER since the establishment of the new Portuguese republic, Catholic papers in the United States, and that portion of the public press which is dominated by Catholic influence, have been taking the position that the republic of Portugal can not succeed. Prominence has been given to every adverse report from Portugal, and little or nothing has been published favorable to the new régime. It is not difficult to understand this matter when we realize that the Vatican considers that the establishment of this republic is a menace to itself and to its interests in Portugal. In spite of the fact that some prominent American Catholics declare their belief in the principle of separation of church and state, one of the greatest objections which the Catholic hierarchy has to the present order of things in Portugal is that church and state have been separated there. The Royalist party is composed largely, if not entirely, of Catholics; and when Catholic papers make so much of the prospect of an invasion of Portugal by the Royalist party, it must be considered that the wish is father to the thought. The Washington Post of June 12 says that the new administration has aroused considerable discontent because of its “sudden and violent separation of church and state. It has aroused the religious element.” It must be apparent, therefore, that it is the religious element which is responsible for the larger part of the unrest in that country, and that discontent has come from the separation of church and state, a principle for which many American Catholics profess to stand.