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{
    "localId": "294550098",
    "label": "Correspondence Between President Harry S. Truman and Ambassador Stanton Griffis, with Attachment",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Correspondence Between President Harry S. Truman and Ambassador Stanton Griffis, with Attachment",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/294550098",
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        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "logicalDate": "1951-04-01",
            "month": 4,
            "year": 1951
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{
    "seq": 6,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602191/750377/750377-08-006.tif",
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    "ocrText": "CONFIDENTIAL\n-2-\nThe present situation of these pastors, however, was\nnot as bad as we had expected to find. Spoken to collec-\ntively, they recounted incidents of persecution such as\nimprisonment, fines, official interference with acts of\nworship and difficulties regarding, especially, marriages\nand burials of Protestants and the education of their\nchildren. Spoken to individually and specifically queried,\nit became apparent that the worst of their experiences\noccurred some years ago and that during the past two years\nthey have not suffered what may be termed a uniform pattern\nof persecution. What they do suffer from is the uncer-\ntainty of their position arising from the fact that their\nlegal status under Article VI of the Fuero de los Espagnoles\n(Spanish Charter) is not clearly defined and uniformly im-\nplemented. Their situations vary from community to commun-\nity, depending on the attitudes of the local mayors and\nCivil Governors, on the size of the community and on the\ndegree of the domination by or devotion to the Catholic\nhierarchy of these officials. All the pastors agreed that\nthe Catholic hierarchy and the influence it wielded on\nlocal civil authorities to restrict Protestant activities\nwas the real root of their troubles. Consequently, although\nthis group of Protestants is not being strongly persecuted\nat present, its position in each community is only one of\nprecarious toleration, but not of true tolerance. This\ntoleration is usually extended extra-legally by the local\nauthorities on the basis of personal arrangements by the\npastors and can be restricted or withdrawn at any time --\nas, for example, when a local Catholic priest or bishop\nremonstrates to a Mayor that Protestant funeral services\nat the grave are a \"public manifestation\" of a non-Catholic\nreligion and therefore must, by law, be discontinued.\nThe minimum desire of these Baptist pastors is that\nArticle VI of the Fuero de los Espagnoles be clearly\ndefined and implemented and that the religious tolerance\nguaranteed therein be locally protected and also enforced\nby the Madrid authorities, notwithstanding Catholic protests\nand interpretations, As it now stands, toleration, if not\ntolerance, is locally achieved in varying degrees, but\ninstances of local intolerance and even persecution, when\nprotested to Madrid, receive no redress from the central\nauthorities.\nThe\nAL"
}