TAKING NOTE: Argetina's Catholic Backlash
Ballvé, Teo
I WENT HOME TO ARGENTINA LAST DECEMBER FOR THE holidays, and upon my return to New York, most peopie I know greeted me with, "Things have gotten better there, right?" a fair question, but one...
...The vast majority of those who attempt at-home abortions are poor teenage mothers who use the crudest of instruments with frequently fatal consequences...
...several pieces juxtaposed Christian iconography with militaristic images...
...a fair question, but one to which a typically cynical Argentine would respond: "Of course things are better, they couldn't have gotten any worse...
...fighter jet...
...The designation only allows for pension rights, health insurance, hospital visitation and bank credit, but now, a broader civil union law at the national level, including adoption and inheritance rights, is in the works...
...The speakers and the audience came under violent attack by a group of conservative Christians...
...a fair question, but one to which a typically cynical Argentine would respond: "Of course things are better, they couldn't have gotten any worse...
...The Church [in Argentina] has launched a concerted campaign against my exhibit," wrote Ferrari during the controversy, "yet it has not condemned the violence committed by some of its parishioners, which is an attitude that encourages them to repeat their deeds...
...Two gay men were the first to gain this legal category-Latin America's first state-sanctioned gay union...
...In July 2003, for example, the city of Buenos Aires legalized civil unions...
...The conservative offensive was best summed up by a recent sarcastic headline: "Holy Resurrection, Batman...
...With the dimming influence of the Church, secular spaces have opened for policies that protect lives and grant greater liberties...
...A much smaller piece had religious figurines poking out of a meat grinder...
...Health Minister Gines GonzAlez Garcia recently estimated the number of clandestine abortions in the country at more than 500,000...
...It's no secret that the Church has long had tremendous social and political clout in Argentina, but the exhibit's closure was not symptomatic of the strength of the Church (as the protest chant suggests) but rather its weakness...
...Although it remains a deeply Catholic society, a handful of groundbreaking policy projects have given rise to public conversations on issues considered taboo by the Church...
...With the dimming influence of the Church, secular spaces have opened for policies that protect lives and grant greater liberties...
...In a matter of weeks, the exhibit was shut down by a judicial order at the behest of an association of five priests, but was reopened two weeks later...
...Argentines are increasingly willing to take God out of politics, and this growing secularization has led the more radically conservative to lash out and vent their frustrations in the political arena or by taking to the streets...
...The Catholic Church was on the offensive over a 50year retrospective of the art of LeOn Ferrari, one of Argentina's most important living artists...
...Argentines are increasingly willing to take God out of politics, and this growing secularization has led the more radically conservative to lash out and vent their frustrations in the political arena or by taking to the streets...
...One of the exhibit's most imposing pieces, which Ferrari had prepared for a 1965 show titled "The Christian, Western Civilization," during the escalation of war in Vietnam, has a bloodied, life-size figure of Christ crucified on an inverted U.S...
...Although not all the debates have ended with favorable policy outcomes, the tide is beginning to turn...
...The Ferrari controversy caught my attention because beneath the surface it is indicative of a more profound and hopeful process underway...
...A much smaller piece had religious figurines poking out of a meat grinder...
...Conservative religious groups still hold significant sway in politics, especially at the local level, but they are receiving diminishing returns for their efforts and find themselves increasingly sidelined...
...When the exhibit closed, hundreds of protestors outside the cultural center chanted "Atenci6n, atenci6n, regresd la Inquisici6n...
...One of the exhibit's most imposing pieces, which Ferrari had prepared for a 1965 show titled "The Christian, Western Civilization," during the escalation of war in Vietnam, has a bloodied, life-size figure of Christ crucified on an inverted U.S...
...The conservative offensive was best summed up by a recent sarcastic headline: "Holy Resurrection, Batman...
...Abortion-illegal in Argentina-is another issue that is increasingly being debated by the public...
...Ferrari's body of work strongly condemns Christianity's role in some of the world's most barbarous acts, including the Spanish Conquest, the Nazi atrocities and Argentina's military dictatorship...
...In July 2003, for example, the city of Buenos Aires legalized civil unions...
...Attention, attention, they brought back the Inquisition...
...The speakers and the audience came under violent attack by a group of conservative Christians...
...The Ferrari exhibit came on the heels of these developing public debates about civil unions, abortion, reproduc- tive health and sexual education that strike a nerve in Argentines' religious sensibilities...
...The Church tin Argentina] has launched a concerted campaign against my exhibit," wrote Ferrari during the controversy, "yet it has not condemned the violence committed by some of its parishioners, which is an attitude that encourages them to repeat their deeds...
...When the exhibit closed, hundreds of protestors outside the cultural center chanted "AtenciOn, atenciOn, regresO Ia InquisiciOn...
...When the show opened, a top Catholic official called it "blasphemy" In a matter of weeks, the exhibit was shut down by a judicial order at the behest of an association of five priests, but was reopened two weeks later...
...Although it remains a deeply Catholic society, a handful of groundbreaking policy projects have given rise to public conver- sations on issues considered taboo by the Church...
...Gonzalez Garcia introduced a law for sexual education classes at the elementary school level to stem rising teen pregnancy rates, but conservative legislators shot it down...
...Conservative groups lashed out again in December 2004 at a lecture by a Dutch doctor who travels the world advocating the legalization of abortion...
...fighter jet...
...In response, conservative sectors of the Catholic hierarchy along with the growing evangelical movement are breaking ranks with their more lenient counterparts to counter these signs of Argentina's secularization, which inevitably means the erosion of the Church's power...
...The Ferrari exhibit came on the heels of these developing public debates about civil unions, abortion, reproductive health and sexual education that strike a nerve in Argentines' religious sensibilities...
...When the show opened, a top Catholic official called it "blasphemy...
...In response, conservative sectors of the Catholic hierarchy-along with the growing evangelical movement-are breaking ranks with their more lenient counterparts to counter these signs of Argentina's secularization, which inevitably means the erosion of the Church's power...
...It was not a story about the supposed upswing in the economy, but rather about a controversial art exhibit...
...Conservative religious groups still hold significant sway in politics, especially at the local level, but they are receiving diminishing returns for their efforts and find themselves increasingly sidelined...
...Although not all the debates have ended with favorable policy outcomes, the tide is beginning to turn...
...GonzAlez Garcia introduced a law for sexual education classes at the elementary school level to stem rising teen pregnancy rates, but conservative legislators shot it down...
...Health Minister Gines Gon.zalez Garcia recently estimated the number of clandestine abortions in the country at more than 500,000...
...Abortion illegal in Argentina is another issue that is increasingly being debated by the public...
...The designation only allows for pension rights, health insurance, hospital visitation and bank credit, but now, a broader civil union law at the national level, including adoption and inheritance rights, is in the works...
...But while I was in the country a story caught my eye that convinced me that things, at least in one aspect, might be changing for the better...
...U Teo BaIIve 3 MARCH APRIL 2005 TAKING NOTE Argentina's Catholic Backlash WENT HOME TO ARGENTINA LAST DECEMBER FOR THE holidays, and upon my return to New York, most people I know greeted me with, "Things have gotten better there, right...
...The vast majority of those who attempt at-home abortions are poor teenage mothers who use the crudest of instruments with frequently fatal consequences...
...Conservative groups lashed out again in December 2004 at a lecture by a Dutch doctor who travels the world advocating the legalization of abortion...
...Ferrari's body of work strongly condemns Christianity's role in some of the world's most barbarous acts, including the Spanish Conquest, the Nazi atrocities and Argentina's military dictatorship...
...But while I was in the country a story caught my eye that convinced me that things, at least in one aspect, might be changing for the better...
...It was not a story about the supposed upswing in the economy, but rather about a controversial art exhibit...
...It's no secret that the Church has long had tremendous social and political clout in Argentina, but the exhibit's closure was not symptomatic of the strength of the Church (as the protest chant suggests) but rather its weakness...
...several pieces juxtaposed Christian iconography with militaristic images...
...Attention, attention, they brought back the Inquisition...
...The Catholic Church was on the offensive over a 50year retrospective of the art of Le6n Ferrari, one of Argentina's most important living artists...
...The Ferrari controversy caught my attention because beneath the surface it is indicative of a more profound and hopeful process underway...
...Two gay men were the first to gain this legal category Latin America's first state-sanctioned gay union...
Vol. 38 • March 2005 • No. 5
