Church and Education in Argentina During the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

In this article, we will analyze the positions adopted by the representatives of the Catholic Church in the face of the educational policies that were implemented by the officials in the Ministry of Culture and Education at the national level. We will focus on the editorials written between 1963 and 2008 by the directors of the newspaper Consudec, the organ of the Higher Council of Catholic Education (CONSUDEC): the secretary Septimio Walsh (from 1963 to July 1990, when he died), and the presidents of CONSUDEC: Daniel Múgica (July 1990–July 1995), Mario Iantorno (August 1995–October 1998), Hugo Salaberry (December 1998–August 2006, until he was ordained Bishop of Azul), and Sister Gladis Uliarte (since September 2006). Our hypothesis is, in the first place, that the religious of Consudec were mainly concerned with defending the interests of the owners of Catholic schools throughout this period, promoting legislation that favored the private education sector by granting it greater autonomy and seeking that the State increase the subsidy destined to their establishments. Second, we will show that national government officials granted them the greatest number of legislative benefits between the 1960s and 1990s. Thirdly, we will state that throughout this period, there were provinces that maintained in their legislation religious education within school hours, understood as Catholic catechesis and received the support of the editorialists of the Consudec.