Vítimas ou parceiros: discurso e ação política da Igreja Católica Portuguesa durante o século XX

Abstract

Vários dos discursos produzidos sobre a Igreja Católica portuguesa no período da transição e consolidação democrática (1974-1987) acentuam a ideia de homogeneidade entre os seus membros e a natureza apolítica da sua intervenção na sociedade. Este artigo desafia essa perceção a partir da análise dos discursos e dos textos publicados por membros da hierarquia eclesiástica e por intelectuais católicos cruzandoos com a informação recolhida em entrevistas junto de intelectuais católicos, activistas políticos e políticos. O artigo defende que tanto as estratégias como os discursos produzidos pela igreja católica são marcadamente políticos.

Much of the retrospective discourse of the Portuguese Catholic Church about the transition and consolidation of the current democratic regime (1974-1987) revolves around the idea of the homogeneous opinion of its members and the apolitical nature of its intervention in society. This paper challenges such perception through the analysis of coeval speeches and texts published by high-ranked members of the Catholic hierarchy and by catholic intellectuals. It sustains instead that both the Church strategies and its discourses were markedly political. Moreover, such strategies and discourses were permeated by two opposite motives regarding the relation between the Church and the Portuguese State – hinting at the existence of relevant frictions between its members. Both motives – victimization and partnership – owe to the experience of co-existance with different political regimes throughout the 20th century as much as to its discursive and ideological reconstruction. The motive of victimization presents the Church as a victim of religious persecution and a guardian of the Portuguese national identity against the onslaught of the secular State. This motive dwells on the experience of the strongly anti-clerical regime of the First Republic (1910-1926). Its related political strategies defend the Church as a regular participant in the political arena, acting via creation of political parties and engagement in public demonstrations. The motive of partnership presents the Church instead as a powerful ally for the legitimation of governments and political regimes – whether authoritarian or democratic. This motive dwells on the quasi-fusional experience between the Church and the State during the authoritarian regime of the Estado Novo (1926-1974). Its related political strategies favors a backstage work based on the use of the personal influence of catholics in key points in the State and in the structure of the main political parties, in order to secure or expand Church privileges.