Scenes of Explicit Catholicism: The Pope and the Political Meanings of Religion in Argentina (original) (raw)

The Catholic Effervescence: Catholic Church, Society and Politics in Argentina between 1955 and 1976

International Journal of Latin American Religions, 2023

The following paper addresses a complex period in Argentine history spanning from the coup d'état against Juan Domingo Perón in 1955 to the onset of the last dictatorship, known as the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional, in 1976. It also explores the intricate role of the Catholic Church, which, with the latest development of religious historiography, has been acknowledged as a multifaceted, complex agent in a process of change where the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) seemed to disrupt the established order. Beyond the ecclesiastical hierarchy, which received the most attention from scholars, it encompasses other voices, such as priests, laypeople, and religious women. The primary objective is to examine how the Catholic Church interpreted the social, cultural, and political changes, as well as the conflicts of the 1960s and 1970s, in order to understand its internal diversity and how it was impacted by internal secularization, understood as the erosion of the legitimacy of religious authority.

Secularism and liberalism in contemporary Argentina: Neoliberal responses, initiatives, and criticisms of Pope Francis

Social Compass, 2018

The role of Jorge Bergoglio as the head of the Catholic Church has provoked political positioning in Argentina, which reveals new forms of articulation between secularism and politics. While progressive sectors connected to the Kirchnerist government initially viewed Pope Francis and his theology of the people with mistrust, they currently see him as an ally in the defence of social initiatives. From the conservative perspective, the trajectory has been exactly the opposite. Although they initally saw the Pope as an ally to help undermine populism, they soon discovered serious obstacles in the way. As a response, they raised the banner of laïcité and called into question the close relationship between politics and the Catholic Church. In this context, we will analyse the reactions, initiatives, and critical arguments, which surfaced around this limited secularism in political life, the mass media, and public space. In other words, we will observe a displacement in which social conse...

Secularism and liberalism in contemporary Argentina: Neoliberal responses, initiatives, and criticisms of Pope Francis Nicolás VIOTTI

The role of Jorge Bergoglio as the head of the Catholic Church has provoked political positioning in Argentina, which reveals new forms of articulation between secularism and politics. While progressive sectors connected to the Kirchnerist government initially viewed Pope Francis and his theology of the people with mistrust, they currently see him as an ally in the defence of social initiatives. From the conservative perspective, the trajectory has been exactly the opposite. Although they initally saw the Pope as an ally to help undermine populism, they soon discovered serious obstacles in the way. As a response, they raised the banner of laïcité and called into question the close relationship between politics and the Catholic Church. In this context, we will analyse the reactions, initiatives, and critical arguments, which surfaced around this limited secularism in political life, the mass media, and public space. In other words, we will observe a displacement in which social conservatism

RELIGION AND POLITICS IN LATIN AMERICA 35 PLURALISM AND INDIVIDUALIZATION IN THE ARGENTINE RELIGIOUS FIELD: CHALLENGES FOR CATHOLICISM IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIETY AND POLITICS

This article analyses the changes in the modern Argentine religious field. Based upon statistical studies on beliefs and religious attitudes, we describe the consequences of secularization in Argentine society, the way in which people believe and practice religion, the changes in religious identification, the religious diversification process and the way in which the religious practices' and beliefs' level of institutionalization have been decreasing. In this framework, we trace the development of the complex relationship between the State, the politics and the Catholic institution. We focus particularly on Catholicism because it is the most prominently public religion in Argentina, the most powerful and the most influ-ent on the State and political arenas.

Political Parties and Churches in Argentina: Intersections in Quicksand

Politics and Religion Journal, 2018

This work intends to analyze the historical intersections between political parties and churches in Argentina, focusing on Catholic and evangelical interventions, since these are the religious organizations with the most presence, interests and connections in this space. Our analysis will be based on a binary classification: the term direct intersections refers to the decision by religious agents to form their own party structures, while indirect intersections is the denomination for those practices through which churches exert their influence on political parties without getting involved in the electoral arena. After establishing the degree of effectiveness of these different strategies, we will discuss their impact in the context of the consolidation of democracy in present-day Argentina. Methodologically, the analysis relies on a comprehensive and critical review of the scientific production about religion and politics in the country being studied.

Religious and political discourse in Argentina: the case of reconciliation

Discourse & Society, 2009

This article analyzes the nominalization 'reconciliation' as a grammar metaphor that allows for the understanding of the historical relationships between religious and political discourse in Argentina. In order to do this, we will analyze the case of the publication of the Final Document of the Military Junta on the Fight against Terrorism and Subversion, in 1983, and its subsequent interpretations made by political and religious actors in terms of its adequacy or inadequacy to the Catholic proposal of reconciliation, which would later become a legal argument in the penal trials sustained against human rights violators. We will observe two relevant features: (a) a struggle about the experiential meaning concealed by the nominalization that legitimates or, on the contrary, de-legitimates the repressive action of the Military Junta; (b) an implicit consensus that attributes to Catholic discourse the power to dictate the rules of political life, which has severely restrained the autonomy of political democratic actors.

Sexual Politics and Religious Actors in Argentina

Religion & Gender

This article examines the role of religious actors in sexual politics in Argentina. Sexual politics has become a critical battlefield when it comes to the role of religion in the Argentinean liberal-democratic regime, while gender and sexuality have been the main political targets of religious institutions since the 1980s and 1990s. In this context, progressive legislation on gender, sexual, and reproductive rights was passed, including same-sex marriage and the recognition of transgender identities, despite the opposition of the Catholic Church. Paradoxically, abortion remains largely illegal, allowed only in exceptional circumstances.

Debates about the Legalization of Abortion in Argentina: The Catholic Church and its Relationships with the Presidential Governments under Democracy (1983- 2018) 1

This article analyzes the historical relationship between the Catholic Church and Argentina's various presidential governments with regard to debates on the legalization/decriminalization of abortion ). An account is provided of the ways that the relationship between democratic governments and the ecclesiastical hierarchy was marked by moments of contradiction and/or consensus that were decisive for the recognition-or rejection-of sexual and (non-) reproductive rights. In 2018, the proposed Law on Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVE) was voted down in the national Senate due to the conservatism of most of Argentine's political leadership and the constant pressure exerted by the ecclesiastical hierarchy.