Navegando en aguas turbulentas. Vicente Arbeláez y las relaciones Estado-Iglesia durante el Olimpo Radical

Abstract

This monograph seeks to analyze State-Church relations in Colombia during the 1870s in light of selected passages from the priestly life of Vicente Arbeláez, the archbishop of Bogotá between 1868 and 1884. From these passages, the monograph attempts to explore the complexity of the relationship between the two powers during the radical period in the country. This period was marked by confrontations and rapprochements in the context of the reforms undertaken by the civil authority, which affected and reformulated the role of the Catholic Church in society. Specifically, the monograph focuses on the educational reform of 1870, which transferred the organization, direction, and inspection of primary education in the country from the Church to the Federal Government. Previously, this responsibility had rested with the Church. A public debate arose around education, centering on the moral formation of citizens and the future of the country. Arbeláez played a key role in this debate as the head of the Church in the Republic during his tenure as the Archbishop of Bogotá. From this position, he sought to negotiate more favorable conditions for his institution with the State. However, the disputes that emerged divided a population torn between those who considered Catholicism as the cornerstone of the country, and those who - without renouncing their faith - aimed to construct a national identity not necessarily tied to religion. These groups found expression and organization in spaces such as the press and Catholic associations, venues where a variety of actors expressed their opinions regarding the changing context. This context marked a rupture in ecclesiastical discipline and raised questions about the Catholic character of the Republic. The thesis suggests the need to explore the different identities that existed around faith and political ideologies in a period when the separation between State and Church decreed by the Constitution of Rionegro was not absolute. The case of Vicente Arbeláez is illustrative of how various individuals attempted to reconcile ecclesiastical power with civil power, despite the existing disagreements between these two authorities. Both were vying to define and defend their positions in society, resulting in the Church's gradual relegation to a more private sphere, moving away from the public education system.