Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Volume V, Microfiche Supplement, American Republics

CO–1. Memorandum of Conversation, by the Ambassador in Colombia (Cabot)¹,²

Bogotá, January 16, 1958

PARTICIPANTS

• The Minister of Government, Brigadier General Pioquinto RENGIFO
• The American Ambassador, John M. Cabot

General RENGIFO assumed office on January 8, and I today called on him at my request in order primarily to discuss the question of the closed Protestant churches. General Rengifo had been Governor of Antioquia at the time that I had accompanied Dr. Milton Eisenhower on his mission around South America,³ and we therefore briefly exchanged reminiscences.

I then said to General Rengifo that he doubtless knew that the subject I had come to discuss was the question of the Protestant churches of Colombia. This was a matter which was of great interest to millions of Protestants in the United States since they had sent money for the construction of many of these chapels, and other contributions, and many had American pastors or other American connections. For decades the Protestant churches had existed in Colombia without any serious trouble - indeed, the Presbyterians had been invited by the Government to come to Colombia 100 years ago. In the last ten years they had had mounting difficulties which had culminated under the Rojas Pinilla administration. I had not heretofore pressed this matter due to the many other serious problems facing the Government, and Villarreal’s resignation, but now that the Government had a legal mandate from the people it seemed an appropriate time to move ahead.

I mentioned the assurances I had been given since arriving here and described my conversations with Minister Villarreal. With regard to the circular which the latter had sent to the respective Governors in September as a result of my intercession, I said that I understood that at least some favorable replies had been received.

I said there were two phases to the question. In some cases the Protestant churches had been closed in the so-called mission territories. The Colombian Government had alleged that Protestant churches were forbidden in these territories under the terms of its agreements with the Vatican. On the other hand, there were a number of churches which had been closed outside the mission territories where no legal authority seemed to exist except the arbitrary fiat of the Government. I gently emphasized how arbitrary the attitude of the Rojas Pinilla administration had been in this regard, since General Rengifo had mentioned earlier that he had been “out of grace” with that administration. I said that we hoped that these churches at least could be opened as a starter. General Rengifo asked if we had a list of them available, and I handed him a copy of our Note of August 6, 1957, with this list.

I said we recognized that this was a delicate matter and that a gradual approach might be better than a drastic one. I did want to say, however, that while we felt that the case was clear in regard to the churches in non-mission territory we hoped that in due course the churches in mission territory could also be reopened. Although the Rojas administration had claimed that the agreements with the Vatican precluded Protestant churches, the text of the agreements did not bear this out, and the Nuncio had informed the Embassy that he did not so interpret them. I said that so far as I knew, although some parish priests and a few bishops were against the reopening of the Protestant churches, I had been informed by Minister Villarreal that the Cardinal and the Nuncio were quite willing to have them reopened, provided they did not proselytize. I said that I had no instructions to ask that they be permitted to proselytize and that I did not think that this was by any means as sore a point among Protestants in the United States as the basic question of liberty to worship, which was guaranteed by the Colombian Constitution and observed in practically every country in the world outside of the Communist bloc.

General Rengifo said that he did not think there was any opposition to Protestants worshipping in their own churches. He recalled that there had been a Protestant chapel opposite his home in Sogamoso and that it had been attended by very decent, well-behaved people. In other areas, however, they insisted on distributing Protestant propaganda and thereby irritated Catholics. I said that although I was a Protestant I recognized that Protestant propaganda occasionally touched Catholics on a very sensitive spot and that I had even heard that it had at times outraged Catholic sentiment. I thought the latter reports were generally exaggerated, if not untrue, but I certainly did not support anything of this kind if it did happen. I mentioned that I had steadily urged moderation on the Protestant leaders, notably when talking with a number of them in New York in October.

I said that there was one other matter which made this problem of particular importance at the present time. Every time that we tried to do something for Colombia - for example, at the time of the $60 million loan - there had been outcries among the Protestants in the United States which had been reflected in Congress. In the ultimate analysis we could do nothing to help Colombia without Congressional approval, and I feared that some time at a most inopportune moment this might not be forthcoming. I therefore hoped that Colombia, for its sake, would feel it advisable to do something to correct the situation. I again made a plea for at least gradual action.

General Rengifo said that as Governor of Antioquia he had been familiar with Minister Villarreal’s circular, and that he had discussed this matter with our Consul. He felt that there were some areas of the country, where violence was still prevalent, where it would be inadvisable to act in the present circumstances but there were other areas (such as Boyacá) where he saw no reason why the churches could not be reopened. He told me he would take up Minister Villarreal’s circular and follow through on it. I asked that he let me know when anything concrete developed.

Our talk was at all times very cordial.⁴

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 821.413/1–1658. Confidential.
2. This memorandum was transmitted to the Department of State under cover of despatch 596, January 16. In the covering despatch, Ambassador Cabot stated in part the following:
   “The Department will note that General Rengifo gave me no explicit assurances, and that we may be faced with further indefinite stalling on this question. Nevertheless, he seemed to take a somewhat more affirmative position than his predecessor, and I am hopeful that he will be willing at least to reopen some of the churches in the non-mission territories within the foreseeable future. I shall of course continue to press this matter as much as I feel is likely to produce favorable results.”
3. Reference is to Milton Eisenhower’s visit to South America, June 23–July 29, 1953, to conduct a fact-finding mission for the President. For documentation on the visit, see Foreign Relations, 1952–1954, vol. IV, The American Republics.
4. Ambassador Cabot discussed the matter of reopening the Protestant Churches in Colombia again with Minister Rengifo on February 18. In despatch 695, dated February 19, transmitting the memorandum of that conversation to the Department, he made the following statement:
   “The Department will note that General Rengifo indicated that a few churches might be reopened and that he will confirm in writing the oral information which he gave to me in this regard. Some governors, however, are unwilling to have the Protestant churches in their departments reopened and a number of governors, for one reason or another, have not replied to the Minister of Gobierno’s inquiry. I think it can safely be assumed that these governors are reluctant to reply and will stall as long as they can before making a decision. I shall try personally to see one or two of these governors on forthcoming trips and hope in this way to make further progress in getting the churches reopened.” (821.413/2-1953)