Berkley Center

Before I arrived in Buenos Aires over three months ago, I had a cursory understanding of Argentine culture, history, and politics. Chaos and corruption was the theme of Argentine politics, great thinkers like Jorge Luis Borges and fantastic soccer players like Maradona were popular Argentine figures, and military regimes, some guy named Peron, and democracy were parts of a dynamic Argentine history. Buenos Aires was supposedly the ‘Paris of South America’ (check your guidebooks when you visit), so what else was there to know? Argentina was a developed, Westernized country with a culture similar to the one I knew so well on the other side of the equator. How could Argentina's culture really be that much more nuanced, complex, and confusing if it didn't sound THAT much different than my own culture?

To this day, over three months after our arrival in Buenos Aires, my study abroad companions and I are baffled as to the ostensibly contradictory daily life, history, and culture of Buenos Aires. From my US-centric perspective, things just don't make sense here; sometimes or things that should be directly related are quite the opposite. Porteños (people from Buenos Aires, literally “"people of the port"”) dismiss swine flu by regularly sharing kisses and a tea-like drink called mate; own pizza places that sell slices for $3.50 and $4.25, but don't have change or small bills for your 10 peso bill; and worship McDonald's, red meat, and wine without getting obese. Yet when I explain these apparent contradictions to my host family, they look at me stunned and confused, and rightfully so since these habits are supposedly ingrained in their culture—maybe right or wrong, maybe good or bad, or maybe neither. I usually end up justifying my confusion by just accepting oddities as realities much like foreigners probably justify certain cultural oddities in the United States. In the words of Porteños, qué sé yo (what did I really know)?

Aside from daily life, the most baffling issue for me has been the Catholic Church's uneasy, complicated relationship with the state. Seeing the flag of Argentina draped over the altar of the important pilgrimage church of Basilica Nuestra Senora de Lujan or passing by religious sayings and figures while touring the National Senate building have been something that I have never experienced in the United States. The state and the Roman Catholic Church are not separated here in Argentina, and in fact, the Second Article of the Constitution grants special privileges to the Roman Catholic Church so that it virtually assumes the role of state religion. It literally states that "el Gobierno federal sostiene el culto católico, apostólico, romano" which in English means that "the Federal Government supports the Apostolic Roman Catholic religion." So how did this constitutional relationship between the Church and the state manifest itself day-to-day or throughout Argentine history? How was the role of the Church any different when connected to the state? It is still difficult for me to fully grasp why or how the Church has interacted in response to various governments, including some of the more violent and dangerous years in Argentina's history.

During many years under the junta, or military regime (1976-1983), parts of the Church condoned kidnappings, torture, and murders by the state. There are estimates that there are up to 30,000 desaparecidos (literally "disappeared people") who were essentially murdered during this wide-reaching state terror program in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of these desaparecidos who were first tortured were then euthanized by the state in secret torture facilities and then dropped out of planes that flew over the Rio de la Plata. This was meant to free up more prison space and keep the state terror out of the eyes of the public. Yet, the Church had a direct role in this horrible method of murder. When approached by the military on how to kill these completely innocent Argentine citizens, one high-ranking church official believed that euthanizing the subversivos and dropping them out of planes was the most humane method possible.

How could a church official actively condone murder? Was this a reflection of the majority of church members at the time, and why could’n't the church counter the terror of the state? Most of the ranking church officials at the time had gained power due to their support of the military regime while most of the church officials who had defended the rights of the citizens ended up disappearing with the other Argentine subversivos. Right-wing church officials won over left-leaning officials in what ended up being a life or death power struggle for state funding, state support, and their own individual lives. I view much of the resulting policies in terms of this internal power struggle of the Church that was in response to a dangerously powerful government. But was it also an opportunistic approach to this dirty war since the government financially supported most of the Church's hierarchy? Or just the inevitable result of the uneasy constitutional connection between the Church and state? I believe that the Church should act on behalf of the people and fill the needs of the people, especially if there are gaps left by the state. Is this impossible in Argentina as a result of the relationship between the Church and the state, or could this just as easily happen in the United States?

Recounting the state-sponsored terror of the military regime of 1976 to 1983 is just one example that highlights some of the complexities of the non-separation of Church and state in Argentina, while also producing many unanswerable questions that are currently discussed day-to-day in Argentina. Even in current public opinion the debate is confusing. The Church has less perceived authority but the amount of people who say they are "religious" is still growing.

I look forward to discussing and learning more about the separation of Church and state in Argentin, but for the time being in this complex, confusing, and unique country I will plead a certain level of ignorance. Small change at pizza shops still doesn't exist, slim Argentines still line up to eat McDonald's, and swine flu disappeared without notice despite the close-contact culture of Buenos Aires. In the end it still comes down to one question.¿Qué sé yo?