The Catholic Electoral League (LEC - ''Liga Eleitoral Catolica'') was a Brazilian political pressure group functioning from 1932–1937 under the direct auspices of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. It was formed as part of a larger Church effort to "re-Catholicize" Brazil after a period of increased

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

and

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

in Brazilian society in the aftermath of World War I.Margaret Todaro Williams. "The Politicization of the Brazilian Catholic Church: The Catholic Electoral League". ''Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs'', Vol. 16, No. 3 (Aug. 1974)
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Historical Setting

In the late 1920s and early 1930s Brazil was beset by several crises. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

led to the crash of the coffee market in 1929, leading to a financial collapse in which much of the rural

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...

lost most of their wealth. Society was becoming more urbanized, with large cities overtaking the more traditional rural regions in political influence. In 1930 a liberal,

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

-backed revolution overthrew conservative president

Washington Luís Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa (; 26 October 1869 – 4 August 1957) was a Brazilian politician who served as the 13th president of Brazil. Elected governor of São Paulo state in 1920 and president of Brazil in 1926, Washington Luís belonge ...

. The early

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

policies of the new government under

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...

(1930–1945) accelerated the decline of the traditional authority of the landed aristocracy and the Church."Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: His Early Years" from website of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property
/ref> In 1932, the upper classes from the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

rebelled in an attempt to stop this political slide. Their

Constitutionalist Revolution The Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 (sometimes also referred to as Paulista War or Brazilian Civil War) is the name given to the uprising of the population of the Brazilian state of São Paulo against the Brazilian Revolution of 1930 when ...

failed, but in response, Getúlio Vargas convoked a constitutional assembly to revamp the country's political organization.

Foundation of the League

Realizing the importance of the upcoming constitutional assembly,

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira (December 13, 1908 – October 3, 1995) was a Brazilian intellectual and traditionalist Catholic activist, best known for the foundation of Tradition, Family and Property organization. Biography Early life Co ...

, with his friends Alceu de Amoroso Lima (a writer and recent convert to Catholicism) and

Heitor da Silva Costa Heitor da Silva Costa (25 July 1873 – 21 April 1947) was a Brazilian civil engineer, designer and constructor of the '' Christ the Redeemer'' monument in Rio de Janeiro. In 1924, he won a competition for the construction of the monumental Chr ...

(architect of the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

), conceived the idea of the Catholic Electoral League. Its purposes would include providing voter guides so Catholics would know which candidates were more favorable to the Catholic cause.

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Sebastião Leme,

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Rio de Janeiro and leader of the Brazilian

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s, sanctioned the plan, and soon the League was active all over Brazil. The League's platform called for the reintroduction of obligatory religious instruction in public schools, the banning of divorce, civil recognition of religious marriage, and the establishment of chaplaincies in the armed forces and prisons. It also called for the right to vote for clergy, and state subsidies for the Catholic Church.Mala Htun. ''Sex and the State''. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003, pp. 85-86
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Influence on the Constitution of 1934

The League quickly embarked upon a campaign to ensure that delegates favorable to its positions would be elected to the 1933 constitutional assembly. The League screened candidates according to their commitment to traditional Catholic principles, and issued voter's guides with League recommendations. The League urged voters to support only candidates who were firmly loyal to the Church. Olveira, now secretary-general of the Archdiocesan Board of the League in São Paulo, was chosen by Cardinal Duarte Leopoldo e Silva as a Catholic coalition candidate to the constitutional assembly. In the election, Olveira, then twenty-four years old, received more votes than any other candidate in Brazil, and nearly twice that of any other São Paulo candidate. At the constitutional convention Olveira and other League-supported delegates were successful in incorporating the entirety of the League's platform into the new constitution of 1934. Having so successfully accomplished its initial purposes, the League slowly fell out of prominence in the years following the constitutional assembly, and ceased to function after 1937.

References

{{Authority control Defunct political parties in Brazil Conservative parties in Brazil Catholic political parties 1932 establishments in Brazil Political parties established in 1932 1937 disestablishments in Brazil Political parties disestablished in 1937