Freethought & Rationalism Archive

03-25-2005, 08:33 AM

The Vatican goes one down.

Quote:

ARGENTINA USES PRESIDENTIAL DECREE TO SCRAP CONCORDAT
MURIEL FRASER reports: From 1976 to 1983 Argentina suffered seven years of terror under a military junta. Conservative counts list over 30,000 people who “disappeared�?, that is to say, were arrested, tortured and secretly executed. One method was the “death flight�?. The victims were loaded into military aricraft and dropped alive into the sea.

In 2003 President Nestor Kirchner took office and shortly afterwards suspended the immunity enjoyed by former military leaders. His democratic, left-of-centre government has also moved to liberalise the Supreme Court. [“Militant Atheist�? appointed to Argentine Supreme Court, NSS Newsline, 13 February 2004] And last month his Minister of Health announced that the government intends to legalise abortion. Back-street abortions are the most frequent cause of maternal deaths in Argentina today.

However, it is the government’s campaign to reduce AIDS that has led to the current crisis. When Bishop Antonio Juan Baseotto saw the Health Minister distributing free condoms to young people, he felt moved to declare that “those who scandalise little ones should have a stone tied around their neck and be thrown into the sea�?. The Bishop claimed, of course, that he was merely quoting the loving words of Christ from the Gospel of Saint Mark. However, many Argentineans are not convinced, especially people like the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. These are the women who defied the junta by demonstrating every week in the plaza, seeking information about their children who had disappeared into the torture chambers and the sea.

The Minister of Health has publicly charged that Bishop Baseotto has “well-oiled links with the last military dictatorship�?. And this is also a Bishop who has charitably excused the junta’s use of torture and murder as “excesses that are impossible to avoid in a war.�?

But the scandal resonates well beyond Argentina, since Bishop Baseotto is no ordinary prelate. Under the terms of a concordat signed with the Vatican in 2002, Argentina agreed to pay for a military chaplaincy and Baseotto is the Bishop responsible for this. Last week, when President Kirchner asked the Vatican to replace the Military Bishop, his request was refused. On Monday the President informed the Vatican that the taxpayers of Argentina would no longer be paying for the Bishop’s chaplaincy, including his salary.

The Vatican is now protesting that this is an attack on “religious freedom�? and even a violation of “international law�?. For in 2002, when the Vatican signed the agreement, it did so as “the Holy See�?, the name it uses when it claims to be a country. This removed the accord from democratic control and made state support for the chaplaincy permanent. As soon as they were bound by a concordat or “international treaty�?, the Argentinian parliament had no further say in the matter, for international law has priority over national legislation.

On March 18 President Kirchner cut through these legal entanglements by issuing a decree. Technically, of course, this violates an international treaty. However, no one seems too worried about an imminent attack on Bueons Aires by helmeted Swiss Guards brandishing swords and pikes.

Kirchner’s cancellation of the concordat has swept away a make-believe treaty with a make-believe state. This week Argentina has shown that a concordat can be broken. What is needed is a presidential decree - and the strength to brave a Vatican tirade.

From the latest National Secular Society Newsline.

Note to mods: the NSS gives blanket permission for this to be quoted as long as they are credited.

Worldtraveller · 03-25-2005, 10:30 AM

Wow, good to see someone somewhere has the brass to defy the vatican.

Any word on whether the fromer bishop is being braught up on charges wrt his previous entanglement with the military junta?

Cheers,
Lane

Julian · 03-25-2005, 10:35 AM

This is some of the best news I have heard in a long time. South America is in dire need of some sensible secular leadership in the social arena. I am liking this President fellow. :thumbs:

Julian

03-25-2005, 02:36 PM

I apologise for the fact that the link I gave did not work. This item was in the NSS enewsletter and it is usually up on their website. But I just had a look and they still have last week's bulletin up, but not the most recent one. No doubt it will be there in a day or two.

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03-25-2005, 10:30 AM	#2
Worldtraveller Banned Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 7,834	Wow, good to see someone somewhere has the brass to defy the vatican. Any word on whether the fromer bishop is being braught up on charges wrt his previous entanglement with the military junta? Cheers, Lane

03-25-2005, 10:35 AM	#3
Julian Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Washington, DC (formerly Denmark) Posts: 3,789	This is some of the best news I have heard in a long time. South America is in dire need of some sensible secular leadership in the social arena. I am liking this President fellow. :thumbs: Julian

03-25-2005, 02:36 PM	#4
DMB Guest Posts: n/a	I apologise for the fact that the link I gave did not work. This item was in the NSS enewsletter and it is usually up on their website. But I just had a look and they still have last week's bulletin up, but not the most recent one. No doubt it will be there in a day or two.

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