Religion and the Commemoration of the Disappeared in Argentina 40 Years after the Dictatorship: A Study of Martyrological Memory at the Church of Santa Cruz

Abstract

This article analyzes how religion shapes Argentine memory of the period of state terror (1976-1983). The analysis focuses on the commemorative practices at the Church of Santa Cruz, a target of the former regime’s violence. The article describes the mechanisms through which the church undertakes its commemoration. These processes produce a “martyrological memory” that links the secular political past to core Christian narratives about “the giving of blood” for the sake of justice and “the kingdom of God.” A vision of a reconciled Argentina that centers the oppressed and the martyrs thus emerges.