The catholich church in the transition to democracy in Argentina: the case of the diocese of Mar del Plata (1981-1983).

Abstract

During the final years of the last military dictatorship in Argentina, a series of transformations took place in the intervention strategies of the most relevant political and social actors, among them the Catholic Church, which laid the foundations of their discourse and way of intervening in the process of transition. In May 1981, the Conferencia Episcopal Argentina published the document "Iglesia y Comunidad Nacional", stablishing the position of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in this situation. The general interpretation accentuated the importance of economic criticism of the military plan, which opened the game to various initiatives by ecclesiastical actors in the national arena. We believe that reducing the scale of analysis can provide a more complex reading of this situation. Therefore, this article will analyze the situation of the diocese of Mar del Plata between September 1981 and December 1983, starting with the announcement of the Asamblea del Pueblo de Dios, a space for debate and pastoral meeting, and ending with the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín. It is understood that, in this framework of progressive opening, the local Church summoned its parishioners and clergy for a dialogue on the role of the institution in the new context.