Heart and Soul: How the Church’s role in Argentina’s dictatorship shook the nation’s faith

Next Year will mark 50 years since the start of a seven-year violent military dictatorship in Argentina. During this period, many who opposed the fascist regime were detained, kidnapped, tortured – and in some cases they disappeared never to be seen again. The Catholic church has always been very powerful in Argentina, and closely linked to the state. While some in the church were victims themselves, the hierarchy of the Church has been accused of playing a role in the dictatorship. At best, it has faced allegations of knowing what was going on and not doing enough to stop it. At worst, it has faced allegations of being actively complicit in some of the abuse the military was perpetrating. A group of mothers and grandmothers during this period set up a campaign to try and find their missing children. The ‘Madres’ and ‘Abuelas’ of Plaza de Mayo movement started on a pilgrimage in 1977, where the women wore the white cloth of their missing children’s diapers on their heads to identify themselves. Today, many of them are still looking for their children, and still identifiable by the white headscarves they wear to campaign each week. In this episode of Heart and Soul, the BBC’s Ione Wells and Jessica Cruz travel to Argentina to speak to some of the victims of the dictatorship. These include people who were kidnapped, detained and in some cases tortured themselves – sometimes in the presence of Church officials. And one of the ‘Madres’, aged 93, who still hopes to find her missing son before she dies. How did this affect their relationship with the Church? And how did witnessing atrocities like this impact their faith? Presenter: Ione Wells Producer: Jessica Cruz / Ione Wells Researcher: Emma Smith Series Producer: Rajeev Gupta