Standpoint of the Catholic Church during the Liberal and Conservative Hegemonies (1930-1953)

Abstract

The article presents the standpoint of the Colombian Catholic Church during the so-called Liberal and Conservative Hegemonies (1930-1953). When the liberals first came to power in 1930, they adopted an anti-clerical attitude and, with the constitutional reform of 1936, they imposed a secular and liberal model for the country, of which some features were religious indifferentism, freedom of religion, civil marriage, absolute divorce, and the proposal of a unique, secular and compulsory education. The aim was to take away the participation of the Church in Colombian society. The Church, through the Colombian Conference of Bishops, denounced the measures of the Liberal Party as characteristic of freemasonry, communism and Protestantism. When conservatives later came to power (1946), the Church took advantage of the situation to promote the return of Colombian society to Christianity and to demand to the State the restoration of former privileges. Between 1930 and 1953 the history of Colombia was marked by a social conflict -called The Violence [La Violencia]-, which was caused by religious issues.