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Argentina - Catholic

In 1985 the Roman Catholic Church was formally organized into 13 archdioceses, 44 dioceses, and three other jurisdictions known as nullius prelatures. Argentina had three cardinals, one of whom held a senior post in the Vatican as president of the Pontifical Commission for Lay People, and over 90 bishops. In addition, Buenos Aires was the site of the Latin American offices of the Armenian, Orthodox, and Ukrainian Catholic churches.

According to Roman Catholic Church reports, in 1984 the Argentine church had about 4,800 priests (one-half of whom were diocesan), 4,100 brothers, 11,000 nuns, and 1,300 seminarians. More than 2,000 parishes and various church organizations ran some 3,700 educational institutions at all levels as well as about 850 welfare organizations, including cemeteries, hospitals, and social centers.

The Catholic church had a privileged legal status in Argentina because the authors of the 1853 Constitution were careful to state explicitly that strong relations should exist between the Roman Catholic Church and the Argentine state but in an environment of religious pluralism and freedom. However, churches other than the Roman Catholic Church must register with the government to obtain the legal recognition required to operate freely in Argentina. The pertinent constitutional articles remained in effect during the mid-1980s, althoug h they were not fully enforced.

According to Article 2 of the Constitution, "the Federal Government supports the Roman Catholic, Apostolic Faith." Article 14 guarantees specific human rights to all Argentines, including that of "freely professing their religion." Article 20, devoted to the rights of foreigners in Argentina, explicitly states that they can freely practice their religion. Article 65 prohibits regular members of the clergy from holding public office, either as members of Congress or as provincial governors. The lengthy Article 67, devoted to the various powers of Congress, states that Congress has the power to promote the conversion of Indians to Catholicism as well as to authorize the admittance of other religious orders into the nation. Finally, Article 76 makes the profession of Roman Catholicism a requirement to be Argentina's president or vice president.

Lay groups with liberal goals, purposes, and political orientation were organizing again in the mid-1980s. These church members were healing the wounds left from the severe repression of its bishops and priests by post-1966 military governments. During the late 1970s military and paramilitary organizations attacked clergy and lay people whom they suspected of sympathizing with or supporting guerrilla groups. Early targets had been the members of the Movement of Priests for the Third World, founded in 1968 to work with the working class and, while living in the villas miseria, to denounce social injustice and promote social change. During the Videla administration all their members were persecuted; some fled into exile while others were murdered or "disappeared." Two bishops were presumed murdered, and a number of priests, nuns, and lay workers were among the tortured and "disappeared."

Cardinal Eduardo Pironio, former bishop of Mar del Plata, experienced numerous attempts on his life, and one of his secretaries was murdered. Although he survived, one of his colleagues, Enrique Angelelli, bishop of La Rioja and a strong critic of human rights violations by the military government, died in 1976 in a mysterious and unresolved car accident while driving to the burial of one of his priests.

In 1985 two Catholic lay organizations, holding opposing points of view and purposes, played an important role within the Argentine community. The first of these, the Peace and Justice Service in Latin America, was a human rights organization headed by 1980 Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel. It advocated nonviolence as a means of seeking the peace and reconciliation of all Argentines and also provided the needy with various social services and facilities. The second, Families and Friends of Those Murdered by the Subversion, was a right-wing group headed by Hebe S. de Berdina. Its goal was to organize liturgical services and masses in memory of Argentines, especially those belonging to the senior ranks of the armed forces, who lost their lives during the late 1970s in the so-called dirty war against terrorism.

During the past century the Argentine Roman Catholic episcopate has played an active role in the Argentine political system and has been considered a pillar of the established order. Bishops were organized into the Argentine Conference of Bishops, which from 1985 to 1988 was to be headed, for the third time, by Córdoba's Cardinal Raül Franciso Primatesta. Primatesta, a 65-year-old bonarense (resident of the province of Buenos Aires) and son of Italian immigrants, was frequently sought out by economic, political, and labor union leaders of all parties for his support and advice.

During the 1980s the episcopate, either through a spokesman or through written position papers, has played a highly visible political role, exerting pressure first for the return to democracy and later for the consolidation of the democratic system. Some bishops' statements—particularly "Church and National Community" of July 1981, "On the Way to Reconcili- ation" of August 1982, and "To Consolidate the Nation in Liberty and Justice" of May 1985—received strong support inside and outside the government. After the publication of the "Church and National Community" document, which voiced the people's demand for a return to full democracy and supported a pluralistic educational system during a period of academic censorship, Cardinal Primatesta received the support of the leaders of all political parties, who were organized into the Multipartidaria (Multiparty Commission). Some sources claimed that this August 1981 meeting was one of the most influential and productive meetings between church leaders and various political leaders since 1810.

During the early 1980s the bishops continued their efforts to return the country to a democratic system and to make a plea for a national reconciliation necessary for a peaceful transition. In the process they interviewed hundreds of leaders and individuals holding diverse political points of view, including the military president, in order to obtain the most objective view of the current socioeconomic and political situation. When in August 1982 the bishops issued a statement calling for the forgiveness of those who had committed crimes of repression against the Argentine people, however, it was not widely accepted by all parties. Their determination to play mediating roles in Argentine politics, nevertheless, marked a significant change in the behavior of the church leadership.

"To Consolidate the Nation in Liberty and Justice" was intended to be a contribution to the process of consolidation of the democratic system during a period of severe economic crisis. National reconciliation and social justice were considered necessary to solidify the democratic process. The May 1985 document acknowledged that major positive changes had occurred since the return of democracy in the areas of respect for human life, the end of torture, more active political participation, the right to dissent, and more liberties at all levels. However, the bishops made a plea to solve the current economic crisis, which they defined as the worst in Argentina's history and characterized by recession with sustained and disorderly inflation, declining real wages, unemployment, the persistence of extreme poverty, and a decrease in the national wealth.