Overview

On August 3rd, 1976, in Córdoba, Argentina's second largest city, Fr. James Week and five seminarians from the Missionaries of La Salette were kidnapped. A mob burst into the house they shared, claiming to be police looking for ""subversive fighters."" The seminarians were jailed and tortured for two months before eventually being exiled to the United States.The perpetrators were part of the Argentine military government that took power under President General Jorge Videla in 1976, ostensibly to fight Communism in the name of Christian Civilization. Videla claimed to lead a Catholic government, yet the government killed and persecuted many Catholics as part of Argentina's infamous Dirty War. Critics claim that the Church did nothing to alleviate the situation, even serving as an accomplice to the dictators. Leaders of the Church have claimed they did not fully know what was going on, and that they tried to help when they could. Gustavo Morello draws on interviews with victims of forced disappearance, documents from the state and the Church, field observation, and participant observation in order to provide a deeper view of the relationship between Catholicism and state terrorism during Argentina's Dirty War. Morello uses the case of the seminarians to explore the complex relationship between Catholic faith and political violence during the Dirty War-a relationship that has received renewed attention since Argentina's own Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis. Unlike in countries such as Chile and Brazil, Argentina's political violence was seen as an acceptable tool in propagating political involvement; both the guerrillas and the military government were able to gain popular support. Morello examines how the Argentine government deployed a discourse of Catholicism to justify the violence that it imposed on Catholics and how the official Catholic hierarchy in Argentina rationalized their silence in the face of this violence. Most interestingly, Morello investigates how Catholic victims of state violence and their supporters understood their own faith in this complicated context: what it meant to be Catholic under Argentina's dictatorship.

Full Product Details

9780190947446

Table of Contents

Reviews

""The Catholic Church and Argentina's Dirty War by Gustavo Morello, SJ, makes an important contribution to the literature that has been trying to understand the behavior of religious actors and institutions during times of state violence."" -- Lucia Cash Beare, University of California, The Journal of Religion ""Morello's nuanced analysis on religious diversity is a welcome alternative to the predominantly denunciatory literature on the role of the Catholic Church in Argentina's Dirty War. His religious lens provides solid alternative insights in the so-called cultural war that waged in Argentina.""--Eva van Roekel, Journal of Church and State ""Morello's carefully researched account of the detention and torture of six La Salette workers during Argentina's 'dirty war' exposes a parallel ideological war pursued in earnest by a traditionalist government obsessed with obliterating progressive Catholicism. This harrowing story of courage in the midst of great evil reveals how the Catholic faith was utilized in remarkably distinct ways to serve opposing visions of justice and moral duty."" --Robert Brenneman, author of Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America ""In a world in which extremists justify atrocity in name of religious beliefs, Morello illuminates the many ways reactionary Catholics legitimated the brutal terrorism of Argentina's military dictatorship four decades ago. Drawing on more than thirty survivor interviews and personal histories, he takes us beyond previous accounts based on official documents, into the torture cells of the regime - and the intimate interface between power and faith."" --Alexander Wilde, Religious Responses to Violence: Human Rights in Latin America Past and Present ""This deeply researched book explains how and why religious activists became targets of repression by Argentina's military. Morello examines the case of priests and seminarians who were arrested and tortured and locates their experience effectively in larger institutional and ideological currents. The author draws out all the nuances of this tragic and sometimes confounding case. The result is an enriched understanding not only of what happened but also of the possibilities of change and conflict within politics and religion more generally."" --Daniel H. Levine, author of Popular Voices in Latin American Catholicism and Politics, Society and Religion in Latin America

This deeply researched book explains how and why religious activists became targets of repression by Argentina's military. Morello examines the case of priests and seminarians who were arrested and tortured and locates their experience effectively in larger institutional and ideological currents. The author draws out all the nuances of this tragic and sometimes confounding case. The result is an enriched understanding not only of what happened but also of the possibilities of change and conflict within politics and religion more generally. * Daniel H. Levine, author of Popular Voices in Latin American Catholicism and Politics, Society and Religion in Latin America * In a world in which extremists justify atrocity in name of religious beliefs, Morello illuminates the many ways reactionary Catholics legitimated the brutal terrorism of Argentina's military dictatorship four decades ago. Drawing on more than thirty survivor interviews and personal histories, he takes us beyond previous accounts based on official documents, into the torture cells of the regime - and the intimate interface between power and faith. * Alexander Wilde, Religious Responses to Violence: Human Rights in Latin America Past and Present * Morello's carefully researched account of the detention and torture of six La Salette workers during Argentina's 'dirty war' exposes a parallel ideological war pursued in earnest by a traditionalist government obsessed with obliterating progressive Catholicism. This harrowing story of courage in the midst of great evil reveals how the Catholic faith was utilized in remarkably distinct ways to serve opposing visions of justice and moral duty. * Robert Brenneman, author of Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America * Morello's nuanced analysis on religious diversity is a welcome alternative to the predominantly denunciatory literature on the role of the Catholic Church in Argentina's Dirty War. His religious lens provides solid alternative insights in the so-called cultural war that waged in Argentina. * Eva van Roekel, Journal of Church and State *

Author Information

Gustavo Morello, SJ is Associate Professor of Sociology at Boston College.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available