I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 164



Only Noblemtl

After the coronation, the people waited for the new emperor’s first steps.

Some were looking forward to it, while others were trembling with fear and anxiety.

On Sunday, January 2, 1848, the Emperor attended Mass in the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Monday and Tuesday were quiet.

Finally Wednesday.

The silence was broken.

A bill was introduced that would have enormous ramifications in Congress.

More than half of the Imperialist deputies, as well as the Republicans, agreed to the law, as if there had been some kind of deal behind the scenes.

The landowners were shocked. The bill’s contents were so radical, but there was no way to stop it.

The name of the law was:

Law on the Secularization of the Church (Ley de Secularización Eclesiástica).

This law, with its unusual name, contained provisions to confiscate the property and privileges of the church and its clergy.

The specific contents of the bill were as follows.

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Ley de Secularización Eclesiástica

Article 1 (Purpose)

– This law aims to strengthen the secular foundations of the state and to place the social and economic influence of the church under state control.

Article 2 (Religious Neutrality of Civil Servants)

– Government agencies and public officials must maintain religious neutrality and may not display or wear religious symbols while performing their duties.

Article 3 (Church property under state control)

– Real estate not directly related to religious activities, such as farms, land, commercial properties, mansions above a certain size, and buildings for tourist purposes owned by churches and religious groups, are controlled by the state and confiscated as necessary.

– Valuables, artwork, and excessive ornaments that are not related to religion owned by churches and religious groups will be confiscated by the government. Items with strong religious symbolism or essential for religious practices will be restricted from being confiscated and will remain under the management of the relevant religious group.

– Churches and religious organizations operating churches, prayer rooms, and land and buildings essential for basic religious activities are exempt from state confiscation. These properties are specially protected to ensure freedom of religious activity.

Article 4 (Nationalization of the Education System)

– All religious-based educational institutions will be nationalized, and the curriculum will be reorganized on the basis of scientific evidence and secular values.

– The Ministry of Education establishes guidelines for the operation and curriculum development of nationalized educational institutions, which are regularly reviewed and updated.

Article 5 (Abolition of legal privileges related to the church)

– Clergy are subject to the law on an equal basis with ordinary citizens, and all legal immunities and privileges are withdrawn.

– The legal immunity of clergy is abolished, but military service may be replaced by certain social service obligations.

Article 6 (Religious exercises in public places)

– Religious services in public places are permitted in principle, but prior permission from the Ministry of the Interior must be obtained for public safety and order.

Article 7 (Political activities of religious groups)

– Political activities of religious groups are restricted, but expression of opinions on national policy is permitted. However, such expression of opinions must be separated from religious ceremonies such as sermons and mass.

– Participation in elections by religious groups and clergy and movements supporting or opposing specific political parties are prohibited.

– In principle, political donations by religious groups are prohibited, but limited donations for public interest purposes that do not have religious overtones are an exception.

Article 8 (Taxes of religious organizations)

– Tax exemptions granted to religious organizations will be partially adjusted, and tax benefits will be maintained only for non-profit and public interest activities.

– Taxes on the personal income of clergy are applied in the same way as for ordinary citizens.

Article 9 (Registration and monitoring of religious groups)

– All religious groups must be registered with the Ministry of the Interior, and their activities are regularly audited.

– Unregistered activities of religious groups are restricted, and registration procedures are carried out fairly in accordance with the law.

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Reporters rushed to their newspaper offices to write about the new law.

“Extra edition, extra edition! Buy it if you want to know about the incredible law that was passed today!”

Some newspapers, determined not to miss this scoop, wrote and printed stories in a matter of hours and began selling papers that evening.

Naturally, word of the bill began to reach the clergy as well.

“What kind of nonsense is this?”

“Such heinous acts must never be tolerated.”

“First, let’s call the Archbishop.”

It was a conversation between priests of the Metropolitan Cathedral, who had just recently been crowned.

Bishop Ballesteros, who was acting as Archbishop of Mexico, was supposed to remain at the Metropolitan Cathedral, but he returned to his native diocese of Sonora under the pretext of recovering from illness.

January 6th.

A priest who took the newspaper himself and boarded the train to Sonora went to see Bishop Ballesteros.

“What on earth is going on that makes you make such a fuss? It’s not like a priest.”

“You have to see this.”

Bishop Ballesteros felt like saying something when he saw the slightly crumpled newspaper that the priest had brought from afar, but held back.

Bishop Ballesteros obediently accepts the newspaper and reads it.

His hands began to shake.

“···Is this true?”

The anxiety Bishop Ballesteros had felt at the coronation was realized in its worst form. It was much more serious than he had imagined.

According to the contents of this law, from now on, priests will just live by attending mass at church. This was absolutely unacceptable.

“Yes, I have already confirmed this with the landowners.”

Chook-

Bishop Ballesteros was furious and tore up the newspaper.

“How much money did we spend on those landlords, and you didn’t even know that a bill like this was coming out?”

“···”

The landowners, who were losing power, joined hands with the church and recovered a considerable number of seats, maintaining the same level as the republicans. This was because several members of the imperial and republican factions, who had strong religious beliefs, moved to the landowners. This was an incident that showed the influence of the church.

But in the end, it turned out like this.

“Useless guys.”

In the end, he had to take action himself.

Bishop Ballesteros headed to Mexico City.

To mark his arrival, the clergy in Mexico City gathered in large numbers.

“You should prioritize persuading the believers. I have other things to do.”

Following the Archbishop’s instructions to conduct a public opinion war, the clergy quickly created a logic. They had been doing this for hundreds of years, so they were experts.

Clergy quickly organized public meetings and demonstrations.

It was not difficult to mobilize believers who were psychologically dependent on them, because the logic put forward by the clergy seemed justified on the surface.

“Dear believers, the secularization law was recently passed in the National Assembly.”

Even if he gave a speech in the middle of Mexico City, not in a cathedral, he still addressed it as “dear believers,” because the entire nation was his believers.

“The secularization law declares from the first article that it will control religion. This is an area that may infringe on religious freedom. State control of religion interferes with our pure devotion to God, and we cannot accept this.

Our church has been a spiritual pillar of this land for centuries. The secularization bill ignores our traditional role and seeks to control everything.

If this bill is enacted, it risks undermining the moral and spiritual foundations of our society, which will first and foremost harm the most vulnerable members of our society.

The church has been the first to reach out to the weak for a very long time. Many have been saved from hunger, poverty, and spiritual suffering by the help of the church. This is our duty, but if this bill is enacted, we can no longer do it. According to this bill, the church’s property will be confiscated.

To confiscate these properties, which are used to support the church and to carry out numerous charitable works, is to ignore the right of legal ownership.

My friends, the church’s property is made up of the wealth you have dedicated to God. Although its physical form remains on this earth, it is actually God’s property. Do not let the government take away what belongs to God.

···(omitted).”

The Catholic Church’s specialty was to link religion and God to real-world problems and shape public opinion in their favor.

There were so many possible attack points.

Starting with the fact that the bill could infringe on religious freedom, taking away the church’s “legitimate property” would be coveting God’s property, and even threatening that if it did, it would be impossible to enjoy various social services provided by the church, such as education, health, and social welfare.

In addition, we often hear the arrogant claim that society will degenerate if the church, the ‘conscience of society’, is prevented from speaking out on social and ethical issues.

But the priests’ appeal, which crossed the line between persuasion and intimidation, resonated with the citizens. First of all, the people who spoke were people they saw every weekend. They were the spiritual leaders of the citizens.

“This bill is too extreme! Doesn’t it seek to confiscate at once all the property and privileges of the Church?”

“That’s right! Is it really necessary to do it this drastically?”

There was also support from the landowners’ party members.

They took a different approach from the clergy. They argued that even if secularization was necessary, it should be done in stages, taking into account the social chaos.

However, they did not completely change public opinion. The royal family’s approval rating and control over public opinion were still great.

“Almost every newspaper is supporting the secularization law.”

“What about the newspapers supporting the landlords?”

“Although we have increased our investment in the media since the last university incident, the secularization law is also actively supported by the Republican Party···.”

The priest trailed off.

“What on earth do they have against us… Are they saying that it was because we opposed the university building last time?”

Bishop Ballesteros was completely wrong. It was a result of a lack of understanding of republicanism and liberalism.

Although republicanism and liberalism are clearly different concepts, most republicans of this era were also liberals.

The Catholic Church in contemporary Mexican society is an evil in itself, both from a republican and liberal perspective, so it was natural that the republicans supported the secularization bill.

Republicans believed from the beginning that politics and religion should operate independently of each other. The current situation, where the Catholic Church not only exerts influence behind the scenes but is openly joining hands with the landowners, is quite unpleasant.

Liberals also stressed equality before the law. The privilege of the church being governed by church law rather than secular law had long been an annoyance to them. They tolerated it because they had no power to overturn it.

It was also intolerable to liberals that the church owned vast farms and properties without paying taxes, and liberals often believed that economic entities should compete on fair terms.

“But newspapers are not invincible. Starting today, mobilize all the priests in the country. We can be more persuasive when we meet face to face every week than newspapers, which are nothing more than mere pieces of paper.”

Bishop Ballesteros misjudged many things, but this one thing was true.

‘That emperor. They say he’s a genius, but he doesn’t know anything about religion.’

Religion, strangely enough, becomes more powerful when it is oppressed.

The secularization bill was passed without consulting the church, which is the party concerned. However, once it is passed, it must be implemented. The believers will see with their own eyes the government confiscating church property and suppressing the clergy who resist.

Most of the people are Catholics. If they think that the royal family is suppressing and oppressing the sinless church, their support for the royal family, which is as high as Mt. Tai, will inevitably fall.

‘When the great curtain of approval ratings is lifted, the emperor is just a human being.’

Even the Emperor is not immune to bullets, nor does he have the power to destroy an army with his own hands.

But Bishop Ballesteros, who had wild imaginations, forgot.

Even the Catholic Church in Europe, which had enjoyed a status higher than that of an emperor for over a thousand years, collapsed after Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses.

Religion is not invincible either.

This is especially true if the clergy leading that religion are corrupt and depraved.

The karma that the Mexican Catholic Church had accumulated over many years was coming back to bite them.