The Catholic Church During Authoritarian Regimes

This paper will examine the major themes which have been proposed concerning the relationship between the Catholic Church and the authoritarian regimes which ruled Argentina and Brazil during the second half of the Twentieth Century. The first part of the paper will present an overview of these themes in the context of modern Latin American history, specifically looking at the history of the Catholic Church in Latin America and its relationship to government. The second part of the paper will discuss these themes in more detail in the context of Argentine history since the Second World War. This part of the paper will discuss the charges that the Argentine Church hierarchy not only complied with the authoritarian regimes which ruled Argentina during most of this period, but even actively promoted the idea of authoritarian government. The third part of the paper will examine the various themes concerning the Catholic church in Brazil, paying particular attention to the evolution of liberal theology in the Brazilian Church and its supposed effect on the Brazilian military regime.

The Catholic Church has always been one the main influences in Latin American history. Latin America was largely colonized by Spanish adventurers who were interested in discovering sources of wealth and saving native souls. Unlike North America, which was a haven for religious dissidents from northwestern

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-democratic trends of the 1930s and 1940s. Acci=n Cat=lica (Catholic Action) Argentina was organized by the Argentine bishops at the behest of Pope Pius XI in order to increase the laity's participation in the hierarchical apostolate of the Church. Composed of the Argentine social elite, the organization was necessarily conservative. According to Kennedy, too much was later made of the bishops' control over the organization, with many arguing that the bishops instructed members how to vote. The bishops had issued a statement in 1931 that no Catholic could affiliate himself with parties or vote for candidates who espoused the following: separation of Church and State, suppression of legal dispositions which recognize the rights of religion and particularly the religious oath, a laicized system of education, and legal divorce. The injunctions against the doctrine of the totalitarian state and racism were added later. Kennedy points out that practicing Catholics had already committed themselves to the bishops' principles and that the publication of these principles was meant to clarify the Argentine Church's position. Rather than telling Catholic voters how to vote, the bishops' statement reiterated the idea that the authorita
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Argentine Church, Brazilian Church, Latin American, Levine Mainwaring, Latin America, Madeleine Adriance, Catholic Church, Vatican II, Per=n Turner, Protestantism Church, church hierarchy, latin america, latin american, argentine church, brazilian church, catholic church, military regime, argentine church hierarchy, turner 1971, mainwaring 1989, base communities, turner 1971 pp, latin american history, levine mainwaring 1989, mainwaring 1989 pp,
Approximate Word count = 5223
Approximate Pages = 21 (250 words per page)

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