Men of Faith

As the spiritual leader of Mexico's million-odd Evangelistas, Bishop David Ruesga of the Protestant Church of God is in a tough spot. In Roman Catholic Mexico the members of his sect, who are most numerous in rural areas, are generally treated as outcasts. Their revivalistic meetings are sometimes stoned. Small boys ring Evangelista doorbells, then run, or paint Viva Cristo Rey (Long Live Christ the King) on Evangelista walls. Since President Manuel Avila Camacho announced in 1940 that he was a "believer," and thus took the government heat off the Roman Catholic church, anti-Protestant persecution of the proselyting Evangelistas has steadily grown. Last week it was at a new peak.

Fair Game. In the tiny village of Esperanza, on the border between the states of Vera Cruz and Puebla, a small group of Evangelistas were holding their regular Sunday afternoon service in a private house. In the plaza, clusters of men were tanking up at the village pulquerias. Soon they were looking for a fight, and the Evangelistas were fair game. One Protestant was killed, four others wounded.

The killing at Esperanza followed an incident at Zacatelco in nearby Tlaxcala state. There, Bishop Ruesga told newsmen, the Catholic mayor had told local citizens to quit baiting Evangelistas. On the street a priest upbraided the mayor and got a rough answer. Someone in the gathering crowd pulled a gun, shot the mayor. By the time pistols were empty the mayor was dead, four Catholics and three Evangelistas had been wounded.

Elsewhere in Mexico, persecution of Evangelistas took other forms. In Mexico City, hooligans in an automobile shot the glass out of the electric cross on the roof of Bishop Ruesga's own Iglesia de Dios. In coffee-growing Chiapas, Evangelistas who protested the killing of one of their members were jailed while mobs sacked and burned their homes.

Courage. For setting these fires in the land, Evangelistas do not blame all Catholics. They regard Mexico City's Archbishop Luis Maria Martinez as a peaceful man with respect for the rights of minorities. But Archbishop Jose Garibi Rivera of Guadalajara makes no secret of his militant anti-Protestantism, and many a parish priest follows his lead. Said Evangelista Ruesga last week: "It has always taken courage to be an Evangelista in Mexico; right now, for the first time, I am scared."

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