Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
The preamble of the Argentinian constitution invokes the protection of God as the source of all reason and justice. Article two states that the federal government supports the Catholic faith. According to article 14 of the constitution, all inhabitants may freely profess their beliefs. Clergy cannot be members of Congress, as set out in article 73. Congress is tasked, under article 75 (22), with presiding over proposed treaties with other countries, international organisations and concordats with the Holy See.Article 93 of the constitution states that, on assuming office, the president and vice-president must take an oath consistent with their religious beliefs.An agreement between Argentina and the Holy See, dating from 1966, declares that the Argentine state recognises the Catholic Church and its activities in the country. There is also a concordat with the Holy See on military jurisdiction and religious pastoral help for those in the armed forces.State money is allocated to certain Catholic clergy and there is funding to help train diocesan clergy. Seminarians from some religious congregations also receive financial assistance.Under article 126b of the country’s education law, students’ freedom of conscience must be respected. Article 128c grants parents the right to take into account their religious beliefs when choosing schools and colleges for their children.According to article 46c of the National Civil and Commercial Code, the Catholic Church is a public legal entity and article 147 states that the Church is governed by its own legal structures. Other churches, confessions or religious entities are, according to article 148e, private legal entities, governed by their own rules as well as the Civil and Commercial Code, and statutes.To obtain legal recognition, religious organisations other than the Catholic Church must register with the National Registry of Beliefs.Under article 17 of the labour law, religious discrimination against workers is not allowedand, according to article 73, no employer has the right to enquire about a worker’s religious views.Certain Catholic feast days are statutory holidays. Some holy days for people who profess other religions such as Judaism or Islam can be treated as non-working days.Clergy have the right to discretion concerning information gleaned through their religious status.Under article 80 of the Penal Code of Argentina, murder is punishable by life imprisonment, and this includes if religious motives are involved. According to article 119b, with regard to sexual abuse crimes, the punishment is more severe if the perpetrator is a member of the clergy.Incidents
In July 2016 a court in Buenos Aires ordered the city government to allow Catholic clergy and other faith leaders to provide spiritual assistance in the city’s hospitals and other public institutes. A final ruling in this case is still pending.In 2016 there was was a court case concerning a resolution by the Chamber of Deputies to place an image of the Virgin of Luján in the chamber, a decision which sparked criticism on grounds that the move would go against the state’s religious neutrality. In July of that year, a court denied the request to overturn the deputies’ resolution, stating that the country’s secular nature guaranteed religious plurality.In August 2016 members of the Argentine Council for Religious Freedom spoke at a forum on inter-faith dialogue organised by the General Religion Office of the City of Buenos Aires.In October 2016 the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Argentina, together with the Holy See, announced they had finished cataloguing and digitising the archive material from the country’s military dictatorship. It was stated that the catalogue would be be available to the regime’s victims and their immediate families. In the case of clergy and religious, access would be granted to their religious superiors.The General Secretariat of the Presidency declared in October 2016 that activities scheduled in the town of Villa Cura Brochero, Córdova Province, for the canonisation of Father José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, were of national interest.In November 2016 the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) and the Argentine Council for Religious Freedom (CALIR) organised the 2016 South American Forum for Religious Freedom and issued a declaration of shared principles and common purposes to promote freedom of religion and conscience.On International Women’s Day in March 2017 a group of protesters gathered in front of the Cathedral of Tucumán and acted out a drama involving the Virgin Mary aborting a baby. The Archdiocese of Tucumán condemned the event saying that it offended the Virgin Mary and the faith of Catholics. That November, the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism issued a statement calling the demonstration “discriminatory behaviour that constitutes an attack and an offence against Christians”.Also in March 2017 a memorandum of understanding was signed by the Religion Secretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Argentine Republic and the Ministry of Local Government of San Juan Province which aimed to facilitate the registration of religious groups in the National Registry of Religion and to enhance relations with religious communities.In November 2017 a court in Mendoza authorised a blood transfusion to a baby whose parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses and who opposed the treatment for religious reasons. Given the life-threatening situation, the medical staff asked the courts to authorise the treatment.That month, the Latin American Jewish Congress received the 2017 Prize for Religious Commitment awarded by the Clarín newspaper’s Religious Values supplement, in recognition of its work in promoting dialogue between the Jewish community and the rest of civil society.Also in November 2017 the date of 9th August was declared as”'National Day of Interfaith Dialogue”.In December 2017 the Supreme Court ruled that in Salta, religious education could not take place in public schools during school hours as part of the curriculum, and that the provincial education law was unconstitutional. This law had required schools to teach religion during regular school hours. The court also overturned a regulation requiring parents to say if they want their children to be taught religion. In April 2017 the Archbishopric issued a statement expressing its concern over the decision to eliminate religious education completely.In February 2018 the Catholic Church issued a statement that it did not oppose the government’s decision to grant a debate in Congress on decriminalising abortion. However, the Church called for dialogue so that all voices, including those of Christians, could be heard. The Church also said that it did not wish to impose a religious view of the issue and that it wanted to contribute to the debate on the basis of reason. It reiterated its opposition to abortion and proposed policies for a comprehensive sexual education programme.In February 2018 in the Sarmiento area, criminals broke into a hall used for meetings by Jehovah’s Witnesses. They trashed the place before stealing items kept there. In March 2018 the Deputy Secretary of Worship said that state contributions to the Catholic Church are defined by the constitution and represent seven percent of what the Church manages. After this figure was revealed, left-wing deputies presented a bill to cut all subsidies to the Catholic Church and to repeal rules in the Civil and Commercial Code treating the Catholic Church as a “public legal person”.In March 2018 the government increased budget funding for church repairs.In April 2018, Father Guillermo Marcó, president of the Institute of Interreligious Dialogue, was named Illustrious Citizen by the City of Buenos Aires in recognition of his pastoral, inter-religious, media and social work.Prospects for freedom of religion
Fruitful inter-faith dialogue continues to develop in Argentina through various initiatives, involving congresses and activities organised by civic associations, as well as government bodies including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship and the Buenos Aires General Directorate of Worship.In several cases, religious freedom issues have been resolved through legal proceedings. In the period under review, some reported attacks obviously involved religious freedom whereas with others the faith connection was less clear. What stands outs from this period is the interest in a new law on religious freedom which would do more to protect this fundamental right. In short, there are positive signs with respect to freedom of religion, and future prospects appear positive. 
Argentina