“A nut too tough to crack”: Perceptions of catholicism among early mennonite missionaries to Argentina

Abstract

When Mennonite missionaries first arrived in Argentina in the early twentieth century the primary targets of their outreach were already Christian -that is, Catholics. Like most Protestant missionaries of the time, however, Mennonites regarded the religion they encountered as a "Catholic-pagan" syncretism, badly in need of the gospel. These prejudices were reinforced in the first half of the century as the Catholic Church in Argentina went through a process of institutional consolidation that aimed to strengthen its presence within the country. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Catholic Church centralized its church government, strengthened its political presence, and introduced new disciplines, rituals, and devotions that unified its identity at the local level. This essay traces the rhetoric that Mennonite missionaries employed in their depictions of the Catholic Church, which emerged as the primary opponent to their evangelical presence. These negative portrayals of Catholicism were part of Mennonites' own theological formation in the struggle for a distinctive identity within the evolving religious landscape.