State-Church relations in Argentina
Encyclopedia
The first conflicts between the Roman Catholic Church
and the Argentine government
can be traced to the ideas of the May Revolution
of 1810. The Tribunal of the Inquisition
was suppressed in the territories of the United Provinces of the River Plate on 1813-03-23, and on 4 June the General Assembly declared the state "independent from any ecclesiastical authorities existing outside its territory".
The framers of the 1853 Constitution
, who were in many cases influenced by Freemasonry
, found a middle way between an officially Catholic country and a secular
society, by allowing religious freedom while keeping economic support for the Church, and employing the patronage
system, by which the President
selected triplets of bishop
candidates that the Pope
could approve.
This system was abolished in 1966, during the dictatorial rule
of Juan Carlos Onganía
, and replaced by a Concordat
which gave the Vatican
the attribution of appointing and removing bishops, leaving the President only with the right to object the appointments. In the 1994 constitutional reform
the Concordat was awarded the rank of international treaty
and thus given priority over national laws, although Congress
is still allowed to reformulate it. The same reform eliminated the constitutional requirement for the President to be a Roman Catholic.
The protocol of the Argentine government has always been influenced by the Catholic Church. Bishops often have a place along ministers, governors and other officials in patriotic ceremonies. On the celebration of the May Revolution
, the president along with his or her spouse and ministers is expected to attend the Te Deum
celebrated by the Archbishop
of Buenos Aires
.
During the first twenty years after the May Revolution, the new state did not establish official diplomatic relations with the Vatican. The Papacy did not wish to create a conflict with the Spanish Crown by showing support for the South American revolution; in 1825, Pope Leo XII
denounced it. During the government of Martín Rodríguez (1820–1824), there was a (failed) project to transfer the clergy to state control and abolish tithing
in favour of state financial backing for the Church.
Juan Manuel de Rosas
destroyed the possibility of re-establishing relations when, in 1837, he dictated that no civil or ecclesiastic authority in Buenos Aires Province
must acknowledge or obey pontificial documents dated after 1810-05-25 without an authorization granted by the foreign relations department.
After Rosas's fall, Justo José de Urquiza
proposed the Holy See to create a diocese
of the littoral
provinces, to avoid the intervention of the bishopric of Buenos Aires, but the Vatican did not accept the Concordat proposed in 1857.
supported Law 1420
, dictating compulsory universal secular education
, and the law of civil marriage
. The opposition of the Church led to the expulsion of the Nuncio
, the removal of dissident bishops, and a breakup of diplomatic relations
with the Vatican, which were re-established during Roca's second term.
The civil marriage law was approved in 1889 under the presidency of Miguel Juárez Celman. The Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Federico Aneiros, sent a document to the priests instructing them to explain church attendants that civil marriage was simply concubinage
(in its modern sense, cohabitation
). The Vatican sent instructions to resist the law; the Capitular Vicar of Córdoba told people to ignore the law, and several priests who had administered the sacrament to couples married under the civil law were punished.
was held in Buenos Aires. The Papal Legate was the then-Secretary of the Vatican, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (who would become Pope Pius XII
in 1939). After the Congress, Argentina was granted a cardinal and three new archbishops, which showed the local and Vatican concern about the advancement of National Socialism
. With this sensitive topic in hand, the Church pressured the government on the issue of re-establishing the possibility of religious teaching in public schools. The conservative Justo
administration lent ears to these requests.
(1946–1955) was one of changing relationships between the Church and the State. At first, the new Peronist movement was linked to the Armed Forces. The Army and the Church considered themselves barriers against the ideologies of Socialism
and Communism
. The Church also supported a doctrine of "social justice" that shared with Peronism the idea of a State that mediates in class
conflicts and evens out social inequalities.
However, some factions of the Church objected Perón's "statism
", that is, the intervention of the national government in private society, sometimes invading the sphere of influence of the Church, as in the case of welfare
plans and public education
, the latter being the most contentious issue. By a law dictated in 1943 during the previous dictatorial government, public schools were forced to provide religious education classes. In 1946, the Argentine Senate
approved a legal re-affirmation of all the decrees passed by the military junta. This law was debated in the less docile Chamber of Deputies
, and was finally passed thanks to the vote of the Peronists, who submitted to the will of the Executive Branch. The arguments presented were nationalistic and anti-liberal, identifying Argentine nationality with the deep Catholicism of the motherland, Spain, and also emphasizing religion as a means to create a personal conscience and an ordered society.
The religious education law, however, limited the powers of the Church: teachers, curricular contents and textbooks were designated by the State, after consultations with the Church if need be. Besides this, the rest of the school subjects were independent of religious influence, and therefore followed the secular tradition of Argentine education. The Peronist government also introduced subjects such as sports, hygiene and sanitary care, which the Church deemed excessively concerned with bodily matters. Finally, education became a vehicle for quasi-religious propaganda for the personality cult of the president and his wife Eva
. In June 1950 Perón appointed Armando Méndez San Martín, an anti-Catholic (accused by the Church of being a Freemason), as Minister of Education.
"Democratic" Catholics were opposed to a full integration of religion and State, but rather preferred a separation between State and Church that granted all schools (public and private, including confessional ones) to receive state funding. These Catholics were in the minority and had no representation before Peronism.
During his second term, Perón resented the Vatican's aspiration to promote the formation of Catholic-based political parties (i. e. Christian Democracy parties). In 1954, out of political rather than ideological reasons, the government suppressed religious education in schools and attempted to legalize prostitution
, to pass a divorce law and to promote a constitutional amendment to separate State and Church. Perón publicly accused bishops and priests of sabotaging his government.
On 1955-06-14, during the Corpus Christi
procession
, the bishops Manuel Tato and Ramón Novoa spoke against Perón, turning the celebration into an anti-government demonstration
. Perón demanded the removal of the bishops to the Vatican. During the night, violent Peronist groups attacked and burned churches in Buenos Aires.
Anti-Peronists in the military, who were mostly Catholic, and factions of the Church, had been long encouraged by this building tension. On June 16, two days after Corpus Christi, airplanes of the Navy
fleet, with the motto Cristo vence ("Christ wins") painted on them, bombed Plaza de Mayo
, killing hundreds of civilians, in the first move towards the coup d'état
which would ultimately depose Perón, the Revolución Libertadora
.
signed an agreement with the Vatican, represented by the Nuncio Humberto Mozzoni. By this Concordat
, which replaced the old Patronage
system, the Argentine Church would have the right to create or modify diocese
s in the national territory, to directly appoint archbishops and bishops, and to keep correspondence freely with the bishops, the clergy and the Argentine Catholics in general. The Concordat was ratified in the Holy See on January 28, 1967.
(1983–1989) had a rough relationship with the Catholic Church. Before 1987, the Civil Code
recognized de facto separation of husband and wife, but did not allow re-marriage. A law of divorce was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in 1986. The Catholic Church pressured the Senate to stop it, threatening to deny the sacraments to those who would vote for it. The Senate finally passed the law on 1987-06-03. During this year the relationship with the Church was also damaged by the call to a new Pedagogical Congress that led the Church to fear a cut on the state subsidies to private schools, and by legislation reforms that equalled legitimate and "natural" (illegitimate) children, which the Church considered to affect the concept of a Christian family.
President Carlos Menem
(1989–1999) was linked to conservative Vatican organizations (such as the Opus Dei
) and was a staunch supporter of the Church's position on abortion
, for which he was awarded a special decoration by Pope John Paul II
, even while he was heavily criticized by prominent bishops because of the poverty and unemployment caused by his economic measures
.
President Fernando de la Rúa
(1999–2001) was also a devout Catholic, and did not have major problems dealing with the Church.
President Néstor Kirchner
(elected in 2003), while professing belief in the Catholic faith, has often had a troubled relationship with the hierarchy of the Church. Kirchner belongs to the center-left wing of Peronism and has placed emphasis on certain progressive views that do not go well with the Catholic Church.
to all citizens, including the provision of free combined oral contraceptive pills and condom
s. The Church opposes artificial contraception and has placed conditions on its acceptance of sex education in schools.
At the beginning of 2005, the minister of Health, Ginés González García
, made public his support for the legalization of abortion, and Kirchner's silence on the matter angered the Church. The military vicar Antonio Baseotto
expressed his disgust by paraphrasing Mark
9:42 ("And whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it were better for him if a great millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea") and suggesting that González García should be given that treatment. Baseotto was heavily criticized because this "punishment" echoes the infamous vuelos de la muerte ("flights of death") whereby prisoners of the last military regime were thrown into the Atlantic from planes. The conflict escalated and caused the Argentine government to relieve Baseotto from his job as the head of the military chaplain
s. This prompted accusations on the part of Catholic observers (also fueled by right-wing opposition leaders and media) that such actions threatened religious freedom. The government pointed out that Baseotto is still a bishop and may celebrate Mass and perform pastoral duties wherever he chooses — he will simply not be on the payroll of the state.
President Kirchner was also criticized for not attending the funeral of Pope John Paul II
(he did attend the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI
), which took place when the above conflict was still in the spotlight of the media. On the celebration of the May Revolution
on 2005-05-25, Kirchner chose not to attend the Buenos Aires Te Deum but the one celebrated in the Cathedral of Santiago del Estero
, where other public celebrations of the day were also moved. This absence of the President did not go unnoticed (it was the first such occasion in 175 years), but the government denied a political intention behind it, except the need to "federalize" the celebration.
In October 2005 conflict erupted again as the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
took steps to pass a Sex Education Law that would encompass the whole school system (public and private, including confessional schools), forcing educational establishments to teach students about gender roles and contraception, among other topics. The Archbishop of La Plata
, Héctor Aguer
, accused the state of "promoting sexual corruption" and "inciting fornication, lust and promiscuity", denouncing that 11- and 12-year old students in a school already implementing a sex education curriculum had received condoms and contraceptive pills. Upon being termed a "fanatic" by the former Minister González García, Aguer replied that the Minister was "intolerant and a fundamentalist" with regards to his views. The Permanent Secretariat for the Family, an organ of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, passed a declaration asking the representatives of the people not to approve sex education law projects "already rejected by the Argentinians". Soon afterwards, on 6 November, the Archbishop of Resistencia
, Carmelo Giaquinta
, entered the conflict by warning that the state would "lose its reason for existence" if it promoted such laws in the fields of health and education, and announced that he would "encourage Christians to civil disobedience
" in that case.
In 2010 Argentina became the third Catholic country to legalize same-sex marriage despite heavy criticism and protests that turned violent between supporters of the traditional Church and advocates of homosexual rights.
, held in Pilar, Buenos Aires
, closed the meetings with an official document about pastoral matters that includes, as usual, a critical appraisal of socio-political issues. The document claimed that Argentina suffers "a worrying form of in-solidarity, [which is] the scandalous growth of the inequality
of income distribution". On the following day, the Argentine Head of Cabinet, Alberto Fernández, replied that this "does not correspond with reality" and that the Church had "ignored much data provided by current statistics" which showed a decrease in poverty since the beginning of the Kirchner administration in 2003 (see Economy of Argentina
). The bishops' document also included a controversial admonition:
Fernández called this "an unfortunate revisiting of the doctrine of the two demons
" (purportedly claiming an equal moral ground for guerilla and State terrorism), since "there is nobody in Argentina who exalts the guerilla as the document says". Senator Miguel Ángel Pichetto (PJ
) seconded the statement by Fernández, calling the above "a coup
-calling (golpista) document that seems to have been written in the 1970s, at the time when some factions [of society] went knocking on [the doors of] military quarters".
President Kirchner himself replied on November 16, commenting that the statements of the Church "look more like those of a political party, more like earthly affairs, than like the task they should be performing", and that the bishops were "absolutely wrong in their diagnosis of the situation of the country". On the issue of the 1970s, Kirchner called attention on the many bishops "who weren't there while children were disappearing" and who "gave [the sacrament of] confession
to torture
rs" of the Dirty War
. Members of the opposition later qualified Kirchner as "over-generalizing", "unjust" and "intolerant".
passed a controversial law making the teaching of religion compulsory in both state and private schools. The move sparked outrage among religious minorities
and human rights
organizations, which called for a secular educational system.
Governor Juan Manuel Urtubey
, the proponent of the law, quickly pointed out that religious lessons would be oriented to all creeds, and that all students would take part, "regardless of their beliefs".
However, doubts remain about the legality of the measure, since it conflicts with the Provincial Constitution itself, which Urtubey helped write, when he was elected conventional constituent in 1998. Article 11º enshrines the secrecy of the citizen's faith, since it clearly states that No one must be asked what their religious beliefs are. Article 28º Section ñ also makes a statement, when it describes the objectives of the law:
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and the Argentine government
Government of Argentina
The government of Argentina, functioning within the framework of a federal system, is a presidential representative democratic republic. The President of Argentina is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President. Legislative power is vested in both the...
can be traced to the ideas of the May Revolution
May Revolution
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...
of 1810. The Tribunal of the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
was suppressed in the territories of the United Provinces of the River Plate on 1813-03-23, and on 4 June the General Assembly declared the state "independent from any ecclesiastical authorities existing outside its territory".
The framers of the 1853 Constitution
Constitution of Argentina
The constitution of Argentina is one of the primary sources of existing law in Argentina. Its first version was written in 1853 by a Constitutional Assembly gathered in Santa Fe, and the doctrinal basis was taken in part from the United States Constitution...
, who were in many cases influenced by Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, found a middle way between an officially Catholic country and a secular
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
society, by allowing religious freedom while keeping economic support for the Church, and employing the patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
system, by which the President
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
selected triplets of bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
candidates that the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
could approve.
This system was abolished in 1966, during the dictatorial rule
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
of Juan Carlos Onganía
Juan Carlos Onganía
Juan Carlos Onganía Carballo was de facto president of Argentina from 29 June 1966 to 8 June 1970. He rose to power as military dictator after toppling, in a coup d’état self-named Revolución Argentina , the democratically elected president Arturo Illia .-Economic and social...
, and replaced by a Concordat
Concordat
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...
which gave the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
the attribution of appointing and removing bishops, leaving the President only with the right to object the appointments. In the 1994 constitutional reform
1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution
The 1994 amendment to the Constitution of Argentina was approved on 22 August by a Constitutional Assembly that met in the twin cities of Santa Fe and Paraná...
the Concordat was awarded the rank of international treaty
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
and thus given priority over national laws, although Congress
Argentine National Congress
The Congress of the Argentine Nation is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies....
is still allowed to reformulate it. The same reform eliminated the constitutional requirement for the President to be a Roman Catholic.
The protocol of the Argentine government has always been influenced by the Catholic Church. Bishops often have a place along ministers, governors and other officials in patriotic ceremonies. On the celebration of the May Revolution
May Revolution
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...
, the president along with his or her spouse and ministers is expected to attend the Te Deum
Te Deum
The Te Deum is an early Christian hymn of praise. The title is taken from its opening Latin words, Te Deum laudamus, rendered literally as "Thee, O God, we praise"....
celebrated by the Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
.
Early times
Pope Leo XII
Pope Leo XII , born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiore Girolamo Nicola Sermattei della Genga, was Pope from 1823 to 1829.-Life:...
denounced it. During the government of Martín Rodríguez (1820–1824), there was a (failed) project to transfer the clergy to state control and abolish tithing
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
in favour of state financial backing for the Church.
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...
destroyed the possibility of re-establishing relations when, in 1837, he dictated that no civil or ecclesiastic authority in Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
must acknowledge or obey pontificial documents dated after 1810-05-25 without an authorization granted by the foreign relations department.
After Rosas's fall, Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza y García was an Argentine general and politician. He was president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860.He was governor of Entre Ríos during the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas, governor of Buenos Aires with powers delegated from the other provinces...
proposed the Holy See to create a diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of the littoral
Littoral
The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...
provinces, to avoid the intervention of the bishopric of Buenos Aires, but the Vatican did not accept the Concordat proposed in 1857.
The 1880s
Possibly the first major conflict between the Argentine State and the Church arose in 1884, when President Julio Argentino RocaJulio Argentino Roca
Alejo Julio Argentino Roca Paz was an army general who served as President of Argentina from 12 October 1880 to 12 October 1886 and again from 12 October 1898 to 12 October 1904.-Upbringing and early career:...
supported Law 1420
Argentine Law 1420
The Law 1420 of General Common Education of Argentina was a landmark national law that dictated public compulsory, free and secular education. It was passed in 1884 during the administration of President Julio Argentino Roca, after a number of similar laws of provincial scope and the conclusions of...
, dictating compulsory universal secular education
Secular education
Secular education is the system of public education in countries with a secular government or separation between religion and state.An example of a highly secular educational system would be the French public educational system, going as far as to ban conspicuous religious symbols in schools.In...
, and the law of civil marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
. The opposition of the Church led to the expulsion of the Nuncio
Nuncio
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...
, the removal of dissident bishops, and a breakup of diplomatic relations
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
with the Vatican, which were re-established during Roca's second term.
The civil marriage law was approved in 1889 under the presidency of Miguel Juárez Celman. The Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Federico Aneiros, sent a document to the priests instructing them to explain church attendants that civil marriage was simply concubinage
Concubinage
Concubinage is the state of a woman or man in an ongoing, usually matrimonially oriented, relationship with somebody to whom they cannot be married, often because of a difference in social status or economic condition.-Concubinage:...
(in its modern sense, cohabitation
Cohabitation
Cohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...
). The Vatican sent instructions to resist the law; the Capitular Vicar of Córdoba told people to ignore the law, and several priests who had administered the sacrament to couples married under the civil law were punished.
The conservative period
In October 1934 the International Eucharistic CongressInternational Eucharistic Congress
In the Roman Catholic church, a Eucharistic Congress is a gathering of clergy, religious, and laity to bear witness to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which is an important Roman Catholic doctrine...
was held in Buenos Aires. The Papal Legate was the then-Secretary of the Vatican, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (who would become Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
in 1939). After the Congress, Argentina was granted a cardinal and three new archbishops, which showed the local and Vatican concern about the advancement of National Socialism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
. With this sensitive topic in hand, the Church pressured the government on the issue of re-establishing the possibility of religious teaching in public schools. The conservative Justo
Agustín Pedro Justo
General Agustín Pedro Justo Rolón was President of Argentina from February 20, 1932, to February 20, 1938...
administration lent ears to these requests.
Peronism
The government of Juan PerónJuan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
(1946–1955) was one of changing relationships between the Church and the State. At first, the new Peronist movement was linked to the Armed Forces. The Army and the Church considered themselves barriers against the ideologies of Socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. The Church also supported a doctrine of "social justice" that shared with Peronism the idea of a State that mediates in class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
conflicts and evens out social inequalities.
However, some factions of the Church objected Perón's "statism
Statism
Statism is a term usually describing a political philosophy, whether of the right or the left, that emphasises the role of the state in politics or supports the use of the state to achieve economic, military or social goals...
", that is, the intervention of the national government in private society, sometimes invading the sphere of influence of the Church, as in the case of welfare
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
plans and public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
, the latter being the most contentious issue. By a law dictated in 1943 during the previous dictatorial government, public schools were forced to provide religious education classes. In 1946, the Argentine Senate
Argentine Senate
The Argentine Senate is the upper house of the Argentine National Congress. It has 72 senators: three for each province and three for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires...
approved a legal re-affirmation of all the decrees passed by the military junta. This law was debated in the less docile Chamber of Deputies
Argentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....
, and was finally passed thanks to the vote of the Peronists, who submitted to the will of the Executive Branch. The arguments presented were nationalistic and anti-liberal, identifying Argentine nationality with the deep Catholicism of the motherland, Spain, and also emphasizing religion as a means to create a personal conscience and an ordered society.
The religious education law, however, limited the powers of the Church: teachers, curricular contents and textbooks were designated by the State, after consultations with the Church if need be. Besides this, the rest of the school subjects were independent of religious influence, and therefore followed the secular tradition of Argentine education. The Peronist government also introduced subjects such as sports, hygiene and sanitary care, which the Church deemed excessively concerned with bodily matters. Finally, education became a vehicle for quasi-religious propaganda for the personality cult of the president and his wife Eva
Eva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...
. In June 1950 Perón appointed Armando Méndez San Martín, an anti-Catholic (accused by the Church of being a Freemason), as Minister of Education.
"Democratic" Catholics were opposed to a full integration of religion and State, but rather preferred a separation between State and Church that granted all schools (public and private, including confessional ones) to receive state funding. These Catholics were in the minority and had no representation before Peronism.
During his second term, Perón resented the Vatican's aspiration to promote the formation of Catholic-based political parties (i. e. Christian Democracy parties). In 1954, out of political rather than ideological reasons, the government suppressed religious education in schools and attempted to legalize prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, to pass a divorce law and to promote a constitutional amendment to separate State and Church. Perón publicly accused bishops and priests of sabotaging his government.
On 1955-06-14, during the Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi (feast)
Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
procession
Procession
A procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...
, the bishops Manuel Tato and Ramón Novoa spoke against Perón, turning the celebration into an anti-government demonstration
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
. Perón demanded the removal of the bishops to the Vatican. During the night, violent Peronist groups attacked and burned churches in Buenos Aires.
Anti-Peronists in the military, who were mostly Catholic, and factions of the Church, had been long encouraged by this building tension. On June 16, two days after Corpus Christi, airplanes of the Navy
Argentine Navy
The Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....
fleet, with the motto Cristo vence ("Christ wins") painted on them, bombed Plaza de Mayo
Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets....
, killing hundreds of civilians, in the first move towards the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
which would ultimately depose Perón, the Revolución Libertadora
Revolución Libertadora
The Revolución Libertadora was a military uprising that ended the second presidential term of Juan Perón in Argentina, on September 16, 1955.-History:...
.
The Concordat
On October 16, 1966, the Argentine Chancellor Nicanor Costa MéndezNicanor Costa Méndez
Nicanor Costa Méndez was an Argentine diplomat.Costa Méndez was born into a privileged background in Buenos Aires, in 1922. He attended the University of Buenos Aires, graduating with a Law Degree in 1943...
signed an agreement with the Vatican, represented by the Nuncio Humberto Mozzoni. By this Concordat
Concordat
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...
, which replaced the old Patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
system, the Argentine Church would have the right to create or modify diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s in the national territory, to directly appoint archbishops and bishops, and to keep correspondence freely with the bishops, the clergy and the Argentine Catholics in general. The Concordat was ratified in the Holy See on January 28, 1967.
1976-1983
See Dirty War#Participation of the Catholic ChurchSince the return of democracy (1983)
President Raúl AlfonsínRaúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
(1983–1989) had a rough relationship with the Catholic Church. Before 1987, the Civil Code
Civil Code of Argentina
The Civil Code of Argentina is the legal code which forms the foundation of the system of civil law in Argentina. It was written by Dalmacio Vélez Sársfield, as the culmination of a series of attempts to codify civil law in Argentina. The original code was approved on September 25, 1869, by the...
recognized de facto separation of husband and wife, but did not allow re-marriage. A law of divorce was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in 1986. The Catholic Church pressured the Senate to stop it, threatening to deny the sacraments to those who would vote for it. The Senate finally passed the law on 1987-06-03. During this year the relationship with the Church was also damaged by the call to a new Pedagogical Congress that led the Church to fear a cut on the state subsidies to private schools, and by legislation reforms that equalled legitimate and "natural" (illegitimate) children, which the Church considered to affect the concept of a Christian family.
President Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
(1989–1999) was linked to conservative Vatican organizations (such as the Opus Dei
Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei , is an organization of the Catholic Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the...
) and was a staunch supporter of the Church's position on abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, for which he was awarded a special decoration by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
, even while he was heavily criticized by prominent bishops because of the poverty and unemployment caused by his economic measures
Economy of Argentina
This article provides an overview of the Economic history of Argentina.-Emergence into the world economy:Prior to the 1880s, Argentina was a relatively isolated backwater, dependent on the wool, leather and hide industry for both the greater part of its foreign exchange and the generation of...
.
President Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa is an Argentine politician. He was president of the country from December 10, 1999 to December 21, 2001 for the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education ....
(1999–2001) was also a devout Catholic, and did not have major problems dealing with the Church.
The Kirchner administration
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
(elected in 2003), while professing belief in the Catholic faith, has often had a troubled relationship with the hierarchy of the Church. Kirchner belongs to the center-left wing of Peronism and has placed emphasis on certain progressive views that do not go well with the Catholic Church.
Conflicts on sexual and reproductive rights
The Argentine national government passed laws and began a program to the effect of providing assistance on sex educationSex education
Sex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...
to all citizens, including the provision of free combined oral contraceptive pills and condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
s. The Church opposes artificial contraception and has placed conditions on its acceptance of sex education in schools.
At the beginning of 2005, the minister of Health, Ginés González García
Ginés González García
Ginés González García is a medical doctor and was the Minister of Health and Environment of Argentina during the administrations of Presidents Eduardo Duhalde and Néstor Kirchner.-Career:...
, made public his support for the legalization of abortion, and Kirchner's silence on the matter angered the Church. The military vicar Antonio Baseotto
Antonio Baseotto
Antonio Baseotto was a Roman Catholic bishop from Argentina. Until February 2005 he was Argentina's military bishop , that is, the head of the military chaplains, with the status of Subsecretary of State....
expressed his disgust by paraphrasing Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
9:42 ("And whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it were better for him if a great millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea") and suggesting that González García should be given that treatment. Baseotto was heavily criticized because this "punishment" echoes the infamous vuelos de la muerte ("flights of death") whereby prisoners of the last military regime were thrown into the Atlantic from planes. The conflict escalated and caused the Argentine government to relieve Baseotto from his job as the head of the military chaplain
Military chaplain
A military chaplain is a chaplain who ministers to soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and other members of the military. In many countries, chaplains also minister to the family members of military personnel, to civilian noncombatants working for military organizations and to civilians within the...
s. This prompted accusations on the part of Catholic observers (also fueled by right-wing opposition leaders and media) that such actions threatened religious freedom. The government pointed out that Baseotto is still a bishop and may celebrate Mass and perform pastoral duties wherever he chooses — he will simply not be on the payroll of the state.
President Kirchner was also criticized for not attending the funeral of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
(he did attend the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
), which took place when the above conflict was still in the spotlight of the media. On the celebration of the May Revolution
May Revolution
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...
on 2005-05-25, Kirchner chose not to attend the Buenos Aires Te Deum but the one celebrated in the Cathedral of Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 244,733 inhabitants, making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surface area of 2,116 km². It lies on the Dulce River and on National Route 9, at a distance of...
, where other public celebrations of the day were also moved. This absence of the President did not go unnoticed (it was the first such occasion in 175 years), but the government denied a political intention behind it, except the need to "federalize" the celebration.
In October 2005 conflict erupted again as the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
Argentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....
took steps to pass a Sex Education Law that would encompass the whole school system (public and private, including confessional schools), forcing educational establishments to teach students about gender roles and contraception, among other topics. The Archbishop of La Plata
La Plata
La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the , the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants....
, Héctor Aguer
Héctor Aguer
Héctor Rubén Aguer is an Argentine Roman Catholic bishop, currently the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of La Plata, province of Buenos Aires.-Early life and ordination:...
, accused the state of "promoting sexual corruption" and "inciting fornication, lust and promiscuity", denouncing that 11- and 12-year old students in a school already implementing a sex education curriculum had received condoms and contraceptive pills. Upon being termed a "fanatic" by the former Minister González García, Aguer replied that the Minister was "intolerant and a fundamentalist" with regards to his views. The Permanent Secretariat for the Family, an organ of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, passed a declaration asking the representatives of the people not to approve sex education law projects "already rejected by the Argentinians". Soon afterwards, on 6 November, the Archbishop of Resistencia
Resistencia, Chaco
Resistencia is the capital and largest city in the province of Chaco, in northeastern Argentina. At the 2001 census, the population of the Resistencia city proper was 274,490 inhabitants. It is the anchor of a slightly larger metropolitan area, Greater Resistencia, which comprises three more...
, Carmelo Giaquinta
Carmelo Giaquinta
Carmelo Juan Giaquinta is an Argentine bishop, currently the Archbishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Resistencia ....
, entered the conflict by warning that the state would "lose its reason for existence" if it promoted such laws in the fields of health and education, and announced that he would "encourage Christians to civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
" in that case.
In 2010 Argentina became the third Catholic country to legalize same-sex marriage despite heavy criticism and protests that turned violent between supporters of the traditional Church and advocates of homosexual rights.
The 2005 Episcopal Conference document
On November 12, 2005 the Argentine bishops presided by Jorge Bergoglio, gathered in the 90th Assembly of the Argentine Episcopal ConferenceArgentine Episcopal Conference
The Argentine Episcopal Conference is an episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic Church of Argentina that gathers the bishops of the country in order to discuss pastoral issues and in general all matters that have to do with the Church...
, held in Pilar, Buenos Aires
Pilar, Buenos Aires
Pilar is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It has a population of more than 226,000 inhabitants as per the . Pilar is part of the Greater Buenos Aires urban conurbation and is the head of the administrative division of Pilar Partido...
, closed the meetings with an official document about pastoral matters that includes, as usual, a critical appraisal of socio-political issues. The document claimed that Argentina suffers "a worrying form of in-solidarity, [which is] the scandalous growth of the inequality
Economic inequality
Economic inequality comprises all disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The issue of economic inequality is related to the ideas of...
of income distribution". On the following day, the Argentine Head of Cabinet, Alberto Fernández, replied that this "does not correspond with reality" and that the Church had "ignored much data provided by current statistics" which showed a decrease in poverty since the beginning of the Kirchner administration in 2003 (see Economy of Argentina
Economy of Argentina
This article provides an overview of the Economic history of Argentina.-Emergence into the world economy:Prior to the 1880s, Argentina was a relatively isolated backwater, dependent on the wool, leather and hide industry for both the greater part of its foreign exchange and the generation of...
). The bishops' document also included a controversial admonition:
Twenty-two years after the restoration of democracy, it is convenient for us elders to ask ourselves whether we are conveying the young the whole truth about what happened in the 1970s, or if we are offering them a biased portrayal of the facts, which could raise new feuds among Argentinians... [Thus it would be] if we set aside the seriousness of State terror, the means employed and the ensuing crimes against humanity... but the opposite could also happen, that the crimes of the guerilla were silenced or that they may not be duly abhorred.
Fernández called this "an unfortunate revisiting of the doctrine of the two demons
Doctrine of the two demons
The theory of the two demons is a rhetorical device used in Argentine political discourse to disqualify arguments that appear to morally equate violent political subversion with illegal repressive activities carried out by the state....
" (purportedly claiming an equal moral ground for guerilla and State terrorism), since "there is nobody in Argentina who exalts the guerilla as the document says". Senator Miguel Ángel Pichetto (PJ
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
) seconded the statement by Fernández, calling the above "a coup
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
-calling (golpista) document that seems to have been written in the 1970s, at the time when some factions [of society] went knocking on [the doors of] military quarters".
President Kirchner himself replied on November 16, commenting that the statements of the Church "look more like those of a political party, more like earthly affairs, than like the task they should be performing", and that the bishops were "absolutely wrong in their diagnosis of the situation of the country". On the issue of the 1970s, Kirchner called attention on the many bishops "who weren't there while children were disappearing" and who "gave [the sacrament of] confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
to torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
rs" of the Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
. Members of the opposition later qualified Kirchner as "over-generalizing", "unjust" and "intolerant".
The 2008 Salta Law on Education
In December 2008 the legislature of Salta ProvinceSalta Province
Salta is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy...
passed a controversial law making the teaching of religion compulsory in both state and private schools. The move sparked outrage among religious minorities
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organizations, which called for a secular educational system.
Governor Juan Manuel Urtubey
Juan Manuel Urtubey
Juan Manuel Urtubey is an Argentine politician, formerly a senior figure in the ruling Front for Victory faction of the Justicialist Party in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies and now Governor of Salta Province....
, the proponent of the law, quickly pointed out that religious lessons would be oriented to all creeds, and that all students would take part, "regardless of their beliefs".
However, doubts remain about the legality of the measure, since it conflicts with the Provincial Constitution itself, which Urtubey helped write, when he was elected conventional constituent in 1998. Article 11º enshrines the secrecy of the citizen's faith, since it clearly states that No one must be asked what their religious beliefs are. Article 28º Section ñ also makes a statement, when it describes the objectives of the law:
to provide religious instruction, which is part of the curriculum, and is to be taught during school time, taking into account parents' and/or tutors' beliefs, who will decide whether their children will attend such classes. Contents (to be taught) and teachers' qualifications will require approval by church authorities.
News sources
- La Capital, 18 February 2005. El obispo castrense sugirió que "tiren al mar" al ministro de Salud.
- Página/12, 19 February 2005. Merece "que lo tiren al mar".
- Página/12, 3 November 2005. No legislarás cuando de sexo se trate.
- La Nación, 4 November 2005. Aguer, arzobispo de La Plata, acusó a Ginés González García de intolerante.
- La Nación, 7 November 2005. Giaquinta dijo que llamaría a la desobediencia civil. (and followups)
- Página/12, 14 November 2005. Poco feliz y poco realista.
- La Nación, 14 November 2005. Réplica del Gobierno a la Iglesia Católica.
- La Nación, 17 November 2005. Dura respuesta de Kirchner a los obispos.
- La Nación, 17 November 2005. La oposición calificó al Presidente de injusto e intolerante.