The Guadalajara Reporter

Rosary broadcasts

Dear Sir,

At 7:30 a.m., Monday through Saturday, I am subjected to a recitation of the rosary boomed into my home from loudspeakers atop the Catholic church in San Antonio Tlayacapan.

The sound is so loud that it is distorted, the words mostly unintelligible. It’s much like the calls to prayer one hears when visiting a Muslim country. Since people who cannot get to the church can listen to services on radio or TV, it is obvious that the priest making these broadcasts is not ministering to his congregation but is seeking to impose his brand of religion on all who live in San Antonio.

The broadcasts began in February, and San Antonio seems to be the only place where they are occurring. Residents, including Mexican nationals, who have complained about them to church and civil authorities have been told that the local priest is doing them on his own initiative, without any superior’s approval, and that they are, indeed, against the law. Though Mexico is heavily Catholic, many non-Catholics live here, and it is supposed to be a secular state. Why, then, do these broadcasts continue?

If I want to listen to a broadcast at 7:30 a.m., it should be one I select on my own radio or TV.

Kenneth G. Crosby, San Antonio Tlayacapan