The Catholic World in the Face of Democracy

Abstract

The democratic order which emerged after 1983 represented a significant challenge for the Argentine Catholic world. This was largely due to the theological-political characteristics of the cycle of civil-military dictatorships which developed in Argentina during the twentieth century. The social composition of the administrative teams also played a key role. To this can be added the contribution of this sphere to social conflict via liberationist currents. Completing the phenomenon´s complexity, one should mention the role of Catholic societies in the human rights movement. On the basis of this, the goal of this chapter is to describe the transformations in the relationship between Catholicism and politics in this historical framework. This will involve focusing on the ecclesiastical authorities as well as on the lower clergy and lay movements. We will attempt to synthesise the different positions assumed by the various actors.

El capítulo se propone ver las acftitudesd de diferentes corrientes dentro del activismo católico argfentino, frente la democracia desde 1983 hasta 2023. Esto, permite matizar las hipótesis que asocian al catolicismo con el nacionalismo autoritario de corte castrense.El libro fue evaluado por Sandra Mc Gee Deustch y David Rock.