The imprisoned Church: Exploratory notes on the detention of priests in maximum-security prisons: Argentina, 1974?1982

BILBAO, LUCAS MATÍAS

International Journal of Latin American Religions

Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Lugar: Zurich; Año: 2022

2509-9957

This article studies the repression that a group of priests linked to the liberationist Christianity suffered, specifically their passage through the maximum-security prisons in Argentina. The repressive forces linked their pastoral and political praxis to the armed organizations, argument that was used to justify their captivities, in most cases, for long periods of time. The repressive methodology to which they were subjected was almost exceptional in the repertoire of southern cone dictatorships preferably opted for short period detentions of the rebellious clergy, followed by their deportation or expulsion. Just like the rest of the political prisoners, to survive in prison, the priests appealed to a repertoire of political ? but also religious ? strategies. Spirituality collaborated with them in the reinvention of the prison scenescene and supported them as a survival strategy. Analyzing the reasons that the repressive forces claimed to detain them, the prisons in which they were and the mechanisms that were at play to resista regime aimed at the political, psychological and moral destruction of the detainees, may contribute to the study of the history of Catholicism and the Church in times of State terrorism.