Liberalism, secularization and religious pluralization in Colombia. About a forbidden pamphlet by Rafael Uribe Uribe
In 1912, the political and military leader Rafael Uribe Uribe (1859-1914) publishedthe book De cómo el liberalismo político colombiano no es pecado, criticizing the close alliancebetween the Catholic Church and the Conservative party. Despite the censorshipimposed on the document, it can be considered as a theoretical advance of secularizationand plurality in Colombia, phenomena that would develop several decades after its publication.The separation between the State and the Church, the non-interference of thehierarchy in political affairs, and the idea that sympathizing with the Liberal party andbeing Catholic was not a contradiction, are the main ideas that anticipate the resolution ofthe religious issues that served as an incentive for political conflicts in Colombia. The textquestions the contribution of Uribe’s pamphlet to the discussion on the relationship betweenreligion and politics in Colombia and exposes the main events of the political andmilitary life of the liberal leader. The document has two sections: the first addresses therelationship between politics and religion in its two-faced dimension as legitimator of theconservative status quo and scourge of the opposition dissent from the Liberal party. Thesecond one considers in what way the book De cómo el liberalismo político colombianono es pecado can be read as a theoretical and conceptual preview of secularization andreligious pluralization in Colombia.
The Colombian paradox. Religion, democracy, and political violence*
Colombia is a paradoxically complex country–remarkably violent, democratic, and religious all at once. This article presents three claims regarding the responsibility of the Catholic Church hierarchy and civic society in this paradox. First, the Church shifted from partisanship during “La Violencia” (1948 to 1957) to legitimizing the political order proposed by the National Front (1958 to 1974). Second, while the 1886 Constitution recognized Catholicism as the state religion, this collapsed in the 1950s amid increasing pluralization and secularization. Third, Colombian religious practices tend to be formalistic, ritualistic, and driven by a social inertia rather than of personal convictions. This prevented the Catholic spirit from fostering an irenic civic culture that could have discouraged violent attitudes and perhaps curbed the rise of a widespread banality.