Chilean Missionaries Reach London

THE UNIVERSE, June 20—“When we think of missionaries, images of exotic countries usually come to mind,” said reporter Greg Watts. “So you don't expect to find a group of Chilean Catholics working as missionaries in East London.”

A group of four young people from Chile are part of the Columban Lay Missionary program set up eight years ago to bring committed lay people to work in partnership with Columban priests around the world.

The group's members work in Newham, “which has become a byword for all the social ills in modern Britain,” said Watts. The culture shock has been significant.

Watts put their work in context: “In line with contemporary pastoral theology, the emphasis of the missionaries is on being with people rather than doing things for them.”

The British Isles are not just on the receiving end of the Columbans' lay program. “In July, five British and Irish men and women, including a solicitor and a nurse, are putting their careers on hold and heading off for a three-year stint … in the Philippines,” said Watts.

Mexican Protestants Freed

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 22—Thirteen Mexican evangelical Protestants have been released from custody after being held for trying to construct a church in the southern Mexican village of Mitziton — and angering Catholics in the process, said AP.

The 13 were arrested June 15 and released three days later. The Protestants said they were threatened and ordered to leave the area, which is in the state of Chiapas.

The region, home to large numbers of Mayan Indian groups, has been the scene of increasing conflicts between growing numbers of evangelical Protestants and the majority Catholics. “Protestant converts have been expelled from the area, and violence between the faith groups has escalated,” said AP.

One of the 13 Protestants freed, Carmen Diaz Lopez, said she was not afraid of threats. “We have the right to build our temple, and we demand that our right to worship be respected,” she said.

Australian Churches Oppose Legal Prostitution

THE COURIER MAIL, June 22—Australian religious leaders warned that a Queensland state government plan to legalize brothels would sanction evil and would damage families, according to the Australian publication.

Under the proposed reform, brothels would be legal in industrial areas and subject to strict health conditions and controls about the character of their owners, said the Courier.

Religious leaders who signed the letter condemning the plan included representatives of the Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran, Salvation Army, Assembly of God and Mormon faiths. “Prostitution brings an increase in sexual activity outside marriage and consequently an increase in family breakdown,” the letter said. “It produces an inevitable escalation in the transmission of sexual diseases and it debases all those involved.”

In a separate statement, the Catholic, Anglican and Uniting Churches said prostitution was a degrading misuse of God-given abilities to express love. “There are few who would choose to be used in such a way by strangers if they were not desperately in need of the money,” the statement said.