Núñez, a religious freethinker himself, is convinced…

Núñez, a religious freethinker himself, is convinced that it is necessary to end the conflict between clergy and anticlericals to put law and order on a sound footing.

In view of the institutional strength of the Roman Catholic Church and its hold on popular sentiment, he sees no way to do this other than by accepting the church's terms.

The resulting religious settlement is contained partly in the new constitution itself and partly in a concordat signed with the Vatican the following year.

There is no retreat from religious toleration per se, but the church is compensated for seizure of its properties, religious orders are legal again, and along with the restoration to the church of other miscellaneous privileges, the settlement providea that public education must be conducted in accordance with Roman Catholic doctrine.

Divorce, which the Liberals had legalized, naturally is forbidden, and remarriages of divorced persons are retroactively annulled, even though the latter change affects Nunez himself.