Rob, I am certain that such religions as Roman Catholicism, Buddhism, and Hinduism will never die out. I'll explain why. Now, we all know about the many depraved clerymen in the Church and all the human suffering and injustice in such countries as India. If our eyes are wide open, we must surely ask ourselves, "Why will these religions survive, yet someday Protestantism and Islam may go under the waves?"

Regardless of what they look like on the surface, all those religions who claim that there is a spirit world, and can provide solid evidence, will remain as solidly entrenched in the world as the Rock of Gibraltar. Take Catholicism for instance. The Catholic saint Maria de Agreda evangelized many Southwestern American Indian tribes from the cell in her convent in Agreda Spain, even before the Spanish conquerors arrived! This is a matter of history and cannot be disproven. When the conquistadores arrived in Southwestern USA, to find that many of the tribes had already been converted by Maria Agreda, they investigated for themselves. A deputation of priests was sent to Spain to investigate. They found her in the convent of Agreda. She explained that she, indeed, did that, sometimes bilocating to Texas,Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, or wherever as much as twice a day. She also wrote a book concerning her powers, entitled, The Mystical City of God. It is right now being sold by the University of Arizona Press. If you live in the American Southwest, go to the Isleta Reservation, near Albuquerque. She converted them before the conquistadores arrived.

Or here's another. I've several times discussed my investigations of Father Toribio Romo who was killed by the Marxist Mexican government in 1928 for preaching to the masses. He now appears often at the border to help illegal immigrants in distress. When I first read about him in Mexico's famous Contenido magazine, I did some research myself, producing an article for the online magazine Viewzone (www.viewzone.com). Then, my wife and I went to his hometown in Santa Ana de Guadalupe, Mexico, where his remains are kept in a small wooden box in front of the altar. I confirmed this story myself with his relatives and the priest in charge of the shrine, Father Gabriel Gonzalez. His 75 year old niece, Juana Romo, told me that the pilgrims who enter her little convenience store, every day of the year, telling her how her long dead uncle helped them at the border, makes her hair stand on end. Father Gonzalez told me that the Vatican demanded that he tell his parishioners, all of whom are relatives of Father Toribio, as well as the thousands of pilgrims who visit the shrine each week, many of whom met Father Toribio personally at the border - that none of this is happening. But Father Gonzalez told me that he can't compete against the tens of thousands of visitors who really met him at the border! He feels helpless to carry out the Vatican's orders.

Rob, I can go on and on with such stories as these. I was not born a Catholic. I just joined the Church when I was a young college student in Mexico, in order to make myself socially acceptable to the Mexicans. But I've at least come to admire it. I ask you: How can such a religion die out? I say it cannot. Many Hindus who write me tell me about the same kinds of wonders in their own country.

Gene