editorial comment Praise the Lord.....

A Mexican bishop sparked a row with the government on Tuesday after he admitted the Catholic Church accepted alms from drug traffickers and that they were "purified" when they reached its coffers.

Ramon Godinez, the bishop of Aguascalientes in central Mexico, said donations from drug gangs occurred "everywhere" in the country, adding that it was "not up to us to investigate where the money comes from," daily Reforma newspaper reported.

"You don't have to burn the money just because it's bad. It's better to transform it ... I've known of cases (where) it's been purified," he added.

The remarks caused controversy in Mexico, where more than 1,000 people have been gunned down this year in a spiraling war between rival drug gangs, many in cities along the U.S. border.

Government spokesman Ruben Aguilar slammed Godinez's remarks at a news conference on Tuesday, telling reporters that "no one can allow organized crime to act with impunity."

"Nobody can be allowed to receive illegal funds under any circumstances (and) no one can promote money laundering in this way," he added.

In a bid to crack down on drug gangs, President Vicente Fox has sent hundreds of troops and federal police to frontier states this year.

Godinez's remarks may have been out of step with the Catholic Church. Bishops in northern Mexico said earlier this year that the multibillion-dollar cross-border trade in cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines went against church teaching.

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