An Opening in Puerto Rico
An Opening in Puerto Rico.—The following extract from a report by Rev. W. H. Sloane, in the Missionary Review, would indicate that Puerto Rico is a good opening for independent missionary work:— "The inhabitants of Puerto Rico are Roman Catholics, but the hold that the church has upon them is very slight. Church and State have been so closely identified that the oppression exerted by the Spanish government has weakened the influence of the clergy. Religious services in all parts of the island are poorly attended, and the catechetical instruction of the children has been greatly neglected. Those evidences of rigid training that are seen in Mexico and South American countries, are here absent. Many country districts have no churches, and the monasteries and convents that have been founded have never taken deep root in the Puerto Rican soil, nor been to the liking of the Puerto Rican people. Now that Church and State are separated, as a result of the war, many priests, deprived of governmental support, are leaving for Spain. Some remain in hopes of aid from the United States Government, and some are endeavoring to educate their congregations to look after the temporal wants of their pastors. The change brought about in the Catholic ecclesiastical system in Puerto Rico has, for the time being, by its suddenness and force, dazed the adherents of the Roman Church."