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Religious Beliefs and Spirituality in Argentina

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Argentina officially referred to as the Argentine Republic is a federal state located in the south-east region of South America. It shares the Southern Cone with Chile to the west. Paraguay and Bolivia border Argentina to the north, the South Atlantic Ocean and Uruguay to the east, Brazil to the northeast, and to the south by the Drake Passage. Argentina occupies a total area of 2,780,400 km² and it is the eighth biggest nation in the globe, the second biggest in Latin America, and the biggest country that speaks Spanish.

In Argentina, religion plays a very important part in the traditions, customs, and culture of the society. Freedom of worship in the country has been guaranteed by the Constitution. The Constitution has not enforced an official faith for the country, but it gives Catholicism a different status. The government also mostly funds the Roman Catholic Church and besides the religious freedom in place, there are certain remaining traditions and customs that make it hard for a person who is not Catholic to become president.

About 76.5% of the total population in the country are Catholic, 11.3% Atheists and Agnostics, 9% Evangelical Protestants, 1.2% Jehovah’s Witness, and 0.9% Mormons. 1.2% of the population follow other religious beliefs such as Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam. Argentines demonstrate de-institutionalization and high individualization of religious beliefs: 23.8% of the citizens claim that they always attend religious services; 49.1% rarely do, and 26.8% do not attend.

Some of these religious beliefs will be discussed in brief below.

Catholicism in Argentia

The politics, culture and society of Argentina are deeply permeated with Roman Catholicism. The place of the Church in the country’s national identity, which traverses across the ideological continuum, originates from the unending capability of Argentines on diverse sides of social and political divides to find some form of back up in the Church. The Roman Catholic Church was able to solidify its hold in the region of the present-day Argentina during the era of the Spanish colonial rule from the 16th to the 19th century. The Catholic Church is split into dioceses and archdioceses. Buenos Aires, for instance, is an archdiocese due to its size and historical importance as the country’s capital. Roman Catholicism is not the country’s official religion, but Catholic representatives participate in many state functions.

Parana Cathedral, Argentina, SourceMost Argentines make yearly pilgrimages to local shrines and holy sites. The most common place is Luján which is located 65km west of Buenos Aires. Every year lots of people make the pilgrimage on foot from Buenos Aires to pay tribute to the Virgin of Luján, the Patron Saint of Argentina. Salta province is another pilgrimage site where the believers go to honour “Our Lord of the Miracles”. This usually takes place on 15th September every year. The other significant pilgrimage site is Itatí, located in Corrientes Province on the Parana River. Believers go there to honour the virgin of Itatí. This takes place every 16th of July.

Catholic practices in the country, especially in the rural areas, can be seen as integrating a lot of syncretism. This is simply the merging of diverse beliefs while mixing practices of different schools of thought. An example of such practices is the religious celebrations held in the north-west provinces. These festivals incorporate Catholic symbols in, or together with old Andean local ceremonies. Pachamama worship is still very common in Jujuy and Salta provinces alongside Catholic beliefs. The Pachamama worship has not been opposed by the Catholic bishops.

There are a total of eight Catholic Universities in the country: Universidad del Salvador and Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina both in Buenos Aires, the Universidad de Santiago del Estero, the Universidad Católica de Córdoba, the Universidad de Salta, the Universidad de Cuyo, the Universidad de La Plata, and the Universidad de Santa Fe.

Protestantism in Argentina

Protestant churches have gained a lot of ground in Argentina since the 1980s. Most Protestants are Evangelicals and they account for about 9% of the country’s total population. 7.9% of these are Pentecostal, 1.2% Jehovah’s Witnesses, and 0.9% Mormon.

Islam in Argentina

Art Deco Christ in Cemetery, Laprida, Argentina, SourceIslam in the country is presented by Latin America’s largest Muslim minority population. The size of the Muslim community in Argentina is roughly 1% of the whole population. This is a representation of 400,000 to 500,000 members. There are a number of indications that the presence of Muslims in  present day Argentina date all the way back to the era of the Spanish conquest and exploration when the first Berber settlers, Moorish-Morisco, explored the land with the Spaniards. Most of them settled in Argentina especially those fleeing the Spanish Inquisition.

There was an influx of emigrants from the Ottoman Empire in the 20th century. Most of them were Arabs from Lebanon and Syria and they were generically referred to as ‘Turcos’ in Argentina. Most of these Arab emigrants were Arab Christians and others were Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, and others Muslim.

There are a number of Islamic institutions in Argentina. Some of these include the mosque on Alberti St. located in Buenos Aires built in 1989, the King Fahd Islamic Cultural Centre which is the biggest mosque in South America, and the Islamic Organization of Latin America (IOLA). This organization is the most dynamic institution in Latin America in encouraging Islamic related activities. It also organizes events that encourage the association of Muslim residing in Latin America, and also the spread of Islam.

Judaism in Argentina

The Jewish population in Argentina is the largest in Latin America. Their History in the country dates back to the 16th century after their expulsion from Spain. The Sephardi Jews fled persecution and migrated with colonists and explorers and settled in what is presently Argentina. Most of the Portuguese merchants in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata were also Jews. Other Jews from France and other regions of Western Europe, running away from the economic and social disturbances of revolutions also settled in Argentina.

Currently, the Jews make up less than 1% of the country’s population. The Jews are roughly 181,500 in number. 80% of them are Ashkenazi Jews, and Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews are the minority. Most of them live in Rosario, Córdoba, and Buenos Aires. The main Jewish holidays have been recognized by the government. The government allows the Jews to have a vacation of two days each to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the first two and last two days to celebrate the Passover. There are a number of Jewish structures in the country such as the Central Synagogue of Buenos Aires, the Sephardic Temple in Barracas district, Buenos Aires, and a Jewish school in Moisés Ville, Santa Fe.

Buddhism in Argentina

Procession of the Virgen of the Miracle, Salta, Argentina, SourceBuddhism has been practiced in Argentina from the early 1980s. The religion was first established by the Chinese emigrants who built the first Chinese temple in 1986. Emigrants from Korea also established their temple and since then a lot of groups have been giving teachings in the country. Most of these teachings are embedded in the well known Japanese Sōtō tradition. The teachings are also taught in Tibetan organizations to encourage the practice of meditation.

Cultism in Argentina

Besides the religious beliefs discussed above, there are a number of cults that local people believe in. The most common cult is the La Difuna Correa, which translates to the Deceased Correa. This is a half-pagan mythical symbol in folk-religion, for which some people in the country feel a lot of devotion. Many people visit the Difunta Correa shrine to show their respects to an area where miracles have been seen since it was first established in 1840.

The other cult is the Gauchito Gil. His real name is Antonio Mamerto Gil Núñes and he was forced to enlist as a soldier in the civil war, which he deserted to become an outlaw. Gil is believed to be a folk saint for a lot of people of the Chaco, Corrientes and Formosa provinces, and also in Buenos Aires and the north region of Santa Fe. Small shrines of Guanchito Gil can be spotted on the roadsides in the country due to the red colour and flags which read “Thanks Guanchito Gil” if an individual’s request is accomplished. Guanchito Gil sanctuary is located in Mercedes town and people organize pilgrimages every year to ask the saint for favours.

Another popular cult is that of Miguel Ángel Gaitán also referred to as El Angelito Milagroso which translates to “Miracle Child” – “angelito”. This was an Argentine baby who died of meningitis, just a few days before his first birthday. His corpse has been preserved very well and the locals made a decision to keep the coffin open since it kept collapsing after many efforts to build a tomb to shelter it and the lid kept coming off. The locals believed this to be a sign that he wanted to be seen and not hidden. People from all over Argentina recur to him for miracles and they consider him to be a folk saint. All of these folk saints are, however, not recognized by the Catholic Church.