Behind the Headlines Mandatory Catholic Religious Education in Argentine Schools Perturbs the Jewish

Re-introduction of mandatory Catholic religious education in Argentina’s secondary schools is deeply perturbing the Jewish community there. This teaching is being done in the guise of a “Moral and Civic Education” course established by Argentine government decree last February. This was reported by Jacob Kovadloff, American Jewish Committee director for South American Affairs.

When contents of the new course were published representatives of the Argentine Jewish umbrella organization DAIA (Delegacion de Asociaciones Israelitas de Argentina) met with Education Minister Juan Llerena Amadeo to protest strongly. Amadeo promised to meet again with DAIA, but never has done so.

Subsequently, Kovadloff said, in an address to an Argentine advertising association, Amadeo averred that it was not for a majority to bow to the will of minorities but the contrary. He also was reported to have declared — and never denied — that he was “in favor of formation of Christian concepts among those not professing this creed.”

“The only way for Jews to safeguard freedom of conscience and dignity would be to boycott classes of Catholic indoctrination,” advocated one Jewish communal journal, “La Luz,” which published a cover story entitled “Yellow Badge” dealing with the issue.

PRESS ATTACKS THE MEASURE

Kovadloff reported that leading Argentine press organs such as “La Prensa” and “La Nacion” openly have attacked the measure. An Argentine Bishops’ Conference statement supporting religious freedom and the right of parents to choose their children’s education has been interpreted as an indirect slap at the decree. The leading Catholic magazine “Criterio” (formerly edited by Msgr. Jorge Mejia, now Secretary of the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism) has come out in criticism.

Amadeo and the decree are getting strong support from right-wing Catholic groups, many of them inspired by the well-known “Opus Dei” according to the Argentine Jewish paper “Nueva Presencia,” which has devoted lengthy articles to this aspect. Members of many of these same groups also are part of the Ombu Circle, a political discussion group with considerable prestige in Argentina. Ombu includes such personalities as the former President of the Argentine Republic, Gen Robert M. Levingston.

According to Kovadloff, a recent Ombu Circle meeting at which the decree was discussed was rife with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel sentiment. Attempts by the only Jew present, Rabbi Marshall Meyer, to counter this brought vehement ridicule and hostility from Levingston.

“Moral and Civic Education” is an obligatory course for first-year high school students. The religious education is introduced essentially, in sections on Christian Ideas about Man and Life; The Family; and Man and His Cultural Relations. Two other sections deal with the economic achievements and political fulfillment of man.

SUBJECTS TERMED ‘ABSOLUTELY INAPPROPRIATE’

The prestigious Buenos Aires morning paper “La Nacion” blasted introduction of the subject as “absolutely inappropriate to the sought after goal” of formation of a moral and civic character. It stressed that the course contents were based “on just one creed” and went on:

“Although Catholicism is the traditional and majority religion of the country it is not the religion of all the inhabitants. This situation is not in keeping with the pluralistic conception of (Argentine) national life.

“Admittedly, the Argentine civic moral order is rooted in Western Christian civilization. That does not mean the state has the right to impose mandatory topics such as ‘Man’s Relationship With God’ — even assuming a diversity of philosophical-existentialist viewpoints can be presented … the study of the ‘Doctrine of the Church,’ although not specified, is understood as referring only to the Catholic church. This means the encroachment of the authorities on freedom of conscience is even more apparent….”

Kovadloff observed that Argentina’s constitution, adopted in 1853, declares that Roman Catholicism is the official religion of the country. The same constitution also established religious freedom. And the 1870 Education Law, Number 1420, clearly called for lay education.

Despite the 1870 measure, however, there has been a mercurial pattern, with religious education sometimes mandatory for elementary or high school, or both, and times when it was not mandatory at all, Kovadloff noted. Parents could request exemption for their children from religious classes, to attend substitute classes in morality; but this of course set them apart, and was felt by both parents and children to be discriminatory. With the new decree, this is no longer permitted. Attendance is obligatory for the Catholic education classes.

During Juan Peron’s first term in office, 1945-51 religious education was mandatory. After he and his wife Evita got into a squabble with the Church during his second term it was dropped. Kovadloff said this was the situation until the new Moral and Civic Education decree of this past February.