Question of Conscience

President Juan Peron's feud with the Roman Catholic Church has raised a painful question of conscience for many an Argentine: Can a good Catholic possibly remain a good Peronista? Last week a Peronista member of the federal Chamber of Deputies, Roberto Adolfo Carena, announced that, as a lifelong Catholic of "sincere conviction." he was resigning from the Chamber in protest against the government's anti-church measures. The Peronista majority, flustered and angry, refused to accept Carena's resignation, instead voted to expel him for "lack of faith, loyalty and solidarity."

Peron & Co. kept up the pressure. In the city of Eva Peron, police locked up 15 leading Catholic laymen, bringing to 60-odd the total jailed in various cities within a fortnight. Half a dozen priests were arrested, making a total of three dozen jailed since the conflict broke out last October. The Argentine Senate passed a bill to end the property-tax exemptions of churches, parochial schools and other denominational institutions. Both houses voted to abolish religious instruction in public schools. The Peronista legislators were unanimous, but the minuscule Radical Party minority in the Chamber (the Senate is 100% Peronista) voted against the measure.

As if to show that he was not feuding with all churches, Peron last week donned a full-dress uniform to receive the Greek Orthodox Order of the Holy Sepulchre, bestowed upon him in the name of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. It is easy for Strongman Peron to be friendly to other churches: in 93% Catholic Argentina, only one church poses any threat to his total control of the nation, or any obstacle to his aim of Peronizing the minds of Argentine schoolchildren.

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