A serious conflict has developed in Argentina between religious and political leaders. Army bishop Antonio Baseotto has been stripped of his military salary and barred from entering military installations; the Vatican refuses to remove him from his post because his veiled threats against the health minister don't violate any church rules.
The Economist reports:
[H]ealth minister, Ginés González, remarked that decriminalising abortion might save the lives of mothers in medical danger. The following day, Antonio Baseotto, the bishop attached to the army, unleashed a broadside against Mr González in a public letter. This included a suggestion that he be “thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck”—a reference to a biblical passage which urges this punishment on those who “offend against the little ones”.
Most Argentines are at least cultural Catholics and do not approve of abortion. But as the media were quick to point out, Mr Baseotto's unfortunate quote recalled the “flights of death” during the 1976-83 military dictatorship, when suspected dissidents were thrown from aeroplanes into the sea. He was accused of wishing this fate for Mr González. Mr Kirchner promptly asked the Vatican to sack Bishop Baseotto.
Guillermo Oliveri, the deputy minister in charge of religious matters ... has proposed altering a 1957 treaty with the Vatican to eliminate the job of military bishop.
It seems to me that Oliveri's idea is the most sensible one. Why is there a "military bishop" with rights and privileges over military personnel but who is not directly answerable to military officials? In America, military chaplains who do what Baseotto did could be removed from their posts without a problem. Argentina should perhaps consider adopting a system more along the American model.
Read More:
Comments
No comments yet. Leave a Comment