Raúl Francisco Primatesta (April 14, 1919 – May 1, 2006) was a
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 ...
of the
Roman 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 ...
of
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, and
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 ...
Emeritus of
Córdoba.
Biography
Primatesta was born in
Capilla del Señor
Capilla del Señor (Chapel of the Lord), is a city located in the northern part of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the administrative seat of Exaltación de la Cruz Partido; which is bounded by the Zárate, Campana, Pilar, Luján, San ...
,
Exaltación de la Cruz,
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
. He was ordained priest in 1942 and elected
titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.
By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...
of ''Tanais'' and appointed
auxiliary bishop of
La Plata
La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...
on June 14, 1957 and became its
vicar general
A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...
. On June 12, 1961 he was appointed first bishop of
Diocese of San Rafael,
Mendoza, and four years later on February 16, 1965 he became
Metropolitan archbishop
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
of
Córdoba. Since 1970 he was part of the ruling body of the
Argentine Episcopal Conference The Argentine Episcopal Conference ( es, Conferencia Episcopal Argentina) is an episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic Church of Argentina that gathers the bishops of the country in order to discuss pastoral issues and in general all matters tha ...
, which he presided on four occasions.
Primatesta was elevated to
Cardinal-Priest
A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...
of
Santa Maria Addolorata a Piazza Buenos Aires
Santa Maria Addolorata a Piazza Buenos Aires ( en, Our Lady of Sorrows at Piazza Buenos Aires, ) is a titular church and the Argentine national church, on Viale Regina Margherita, Rome.
History
It was founded by the Argentine priest Msgr. José L ...
on March 5, 1973 by
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
. He participated in the conclaves that elected popes
John Paul I
Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...
and
John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
in 1978. As required when he turned 75 in 1994 he presented his resignation, but John Paul II accepted it only in 1998. Primatesta continued presiding the Social Pastoral Commission of the Episcopal Conference until 2002.
Primatesta suffered from a chronic heart condition. He underwent heart surgery in 1995 and had to have blocks removed from two arteries in January 2005. In April 2005 he had to be hospitalized for two weeks.
He died during the first hours of May 1, 2006, at the age of 87, in his private home in Córdoba, after a complication of his cardiovascular condition. His funeral was conducted in the Cathedral of Córdoba, where he was then buried. The provincial government decreed three days of mourning.
Political involvement
Cardinal Primatesta was considered very influential in the internal workings of the Argentine Church and its relationship to the national government. He was linked to top figures of the military dictatorship of the ''
Proceso''; after its downfall in 1983 he defended the stance of the Catholic hierarchy at the time, and opposed institutional self-criticism for it, which the Church only started after Primatesta lost his dominant position. Bishop Emeritus of
Morón,
Justo Laguna, called Primatesta "a man of little commitment" (''un hombre de jugarse poco'') and noted that the Cardinal never took a clear position on the issue of Bishop
Enrique Angelelli
Enrique Ángel Angelelli Carletti (17 June 19234 August 1976) was a bishop of the Catholic Church in Argentina who was assassinated during the Dirty War for his involvement with social issues.
Angelelli, whose commitment to the "Church of the ...
's murder in 1976.
María Elba Martínez, a human rights advocate and lawyer, stated after the Cardinal's death that "Primatesta took a large part of the truth
bout the dictatorshipto his grave, mainly about the ''
desaparecidos
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...
'', the kidnapping of children and the complicity of the ecclesiastic hierarchy with the dictatorship, with the goal of dismembering or weakening the Third World movements of the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...
". Martínez further said that Primatesta "was useful" to the military, and that he had "named people" for them.
During the 1990s, Cardinal Primatesta was a strong critic of the
neoliberal
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
policies of President
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...
(1989–1999), whom he charged with leaving behind a massive amount of poverty. While in charge of the Social Pastoral Commission he asked for a "social agreement" to overcome the
economic crisis of Argentina, and organized discussion meetings for union leaders, businessmen and government representatives. Primatesta mediated also on many social conflicts, including cases where unemployed families took the Cathedral of Córdoba.
On a different note, the Cardinal defended the position of the Church on
contraception
Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
to the point of denouncing Córdoba Governor
Ramón Mestre
Ramón Bautista Mestre (August 21, 1937 – March 6, 2003), an Argentine politician, was Governor of Córdoba from July 12, 1995 to July 12, 1999. He also served as Federal Interventor of Corrientes Province (December 16, 1999 to March 20, 2001 ...
at the top of his voice for a provincial health program that included handing out
condom
A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of in ...
s near the seat of the Archbishopric.
References
* ''La Nación'', 1 May 2006
''Murió el Cardenal Primatesta''
* ''Clarín'', 1 May 2006
* ''Página/12'', 2 May 2006
* Diario de Cuyo, 2 May 2006
''El adiós para un cura polémico''
Raúl Primatesta - Capilla del Señor (Spanish)
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Primatesta, Raul Francisco
1919 births
2006 deaths
People from Buenos Aires Province
Argentine people of Italian descent
Pontifical Gregorian University alumni
Argentine cardinals
20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Argentina
Participants in the Second Vatican Council
Cardinals created by Pope Paul VI
Roman Catholic archbishops of Córdoba
Roman Catholic bishops of La Plata in Argentina
Roman Catholic bishops of San Rafael