Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Religion in Argentina
Argentina's most prominent religion is Christianity, with a
large majority of Roman Catholic followers. Native religions
were unable to resist the combined force of the Spanish
sword and Jesuit teachings, but a certain degree of
syncretism took place and a native version of Catholicism
evolved, replete with saints, superstitions, and native
iconography. Besides traditional religious practices,
popular cult or folklore figures such as Difunta Correa,
Gauchito Gil, and Ceferino Namuncurá are still venerated
throughout the country.
The Independence movement
in the early 19th century,
however, was fronted by men
fired by secular passions, and
the open-door immigration
policy that Argentina adopted
from the mid-19th century
onwards created a tolerant,
non-denominational society.
The involvement of Catholic
church leaders in the 1955
military coup and in the
machinations of the military
govern ment between 1976
and 1983 has cast a pall over
the religious institution. There
have been few left-leaning
church leaders in Argentina,
and the country has never
been a seedbed for revolu-
tionary liberation theology,
which focuses on Christ as not
only a Redeemer but also a
Liberator of the oppressed.
The church cannot be said to
have fully met its doctrinal
promise to represent the poor.
Consequently, Catholicism is
losing ground to the Mormon
church and to evangelical
movements in the provinces.
Even the election in 2013 of
Argentinian Cardinal Jorge
Mario Bergoglio as Pope
Francis I has not created much
of a boom for Catholicism,
although the Vatican's yellow
and white flag is often now
seen. Today, Roman Cathol-
icism is largely an element of
Argentina's cultural heritage
rather than a national faith.
Statues on the façade of Basilica Nuestra Señora de Luján
Catholicism spread to southern
Argentina only at the end of
the 19th century. By the 1890s,
Salesian missions were active
in Patagonia, while Anglican
missionaries from the United
Kingdom also established an
outpost on Canal Beagle.
Christianity
Roman Catholicism is the
country's state religion,
supported by an article of the
Argentinian constitution. This
support is both economic and
institutional, with the federal
state paying salaries to bishops,
and with the army setting up
special posts for Catholic
chaplains. Many schools are
also affiliated to the church.
The first major Roman Catholic
presence in the country was
during the period of the Jesuit
Missions (1599-1767), which
were established in Córdoba
and the northeast with their
headquarters at Manzana
de las Luces in Buenos Aires.
The Jesuits, together with
Franciscan and Dominican
monks, laid the groundwork for
the establishment of the
Catholic faith as the official
religion of the country. Roman
Judaism
One of Argentina's famous
claims is that Buenos Aires,
after New York, is the most
Jewish city outside Israel.
While this is not strictly true,
the Jewish community in
Argentina is a significant
2 percent of the population
and, more importantly, has a
cultural presence and political
clout disproportionate to mere
numbers. Among those who
made up the first waves of
migration to the rural interior
during the late 1880s were
groups of
gauchos judios
View of crumbling Jesuit ruins, San
Ignacio Miní, Misiones
