Political Catholicism and Nationalism in Argentina, 1900-1920

MARTÍN O. CASTRO

Oxford

Conferencia; General Seminars, Michaelmas Term, Latin American Centre; 2011

Latin American Centre, University of Oxford

The subject of Catholic political practices has been somewhat neglected by the historians of early twentieth-century Argentina. An increasing number of studies have been dedicated to the history of the Catholic Church in Argentina in recent years. Yet, the study of Catholic political parties and the involvement of Catholic politicians at the end of the oligarchic republic and beginning of the Radical presidencies have not received similar attention. The standard interpretation of the political participation of Catholics has stressed the constant failure of Catholic political projects. Many historians have tended to stress the most intransigent aspects of political Catholicism looking for antecedents and an ideological map that enable them to understand the role of the Argentine Catholic Church during the 1930s and the relationship of Catholic intellectuals and community leaders with nationalism. This presentation argues that it is possible to study the involvement of Catholic politicians and their political enterprises at the beginning of the twentieth century in their own right and not just as a prologue to the 1930s, although there were clear connections to be made between both periods. It also argues that the emergence of distinctive Catholic politics in Argentina in this period was discouraged by the low intensity of the Church-State struggle, the lack of support from the ecclesiastical hierarchy, an underdeveloped network of catholic organizations and the reluctance of Catholic notables to accept the road to mass electoral politics.