THE REGISTER OF WORSHIP MINISTER IN MEXICO: FROM THE LIMITATION OF NUMBER TO INTERFERENCE INTO THE INTERNAL LIFE OF THE CHURCHES

Abstract

The Constitution promulgated in Mexico in February of 1917 contained several articles that limited the action of the catholic church. One of them, article 130, empowered the United States Congress to limit the number of ministers of worship. During the first years, few were the states that exercised this faculty. However, upon reaching the power the President Plutarco Elías Calles, he forced state legislatures to limit the number of priests. In some states, not only a limited number of religious ministers were determined, but conditions that were difficult to meet for ministers of Catholic worship were established. In the development of this essay is about proving that the most difficult condition to accept by the Catholic hierarchy was the requirement of registration before the government to decide which priests were to exercise their ministry.