 The decree declared the separation of church and state, confiscated the state funds allotted to the Church, seized the property of religious congregations, and ordered that Catholic schools cease religious education and become secular.Over the next seven weeks, some two hundred priests, nuns and monks were arrested, and twenty-six churches were closed to the public.At the urging of the more radical newspapers, National Guard units searched the basements of churches, looking for evidence of alleged sadism and criminal practices.