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A Brief Historical and Legal Description of Religious Liberty
Bolivia has a multiparty democratic form of government. It achieved independence from Spain in 1825 and joined the United Nations in 1945. Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and Victor Hugo Cardenas were elected president and vice president, respectively, on August 6, 1993. In spite of Bolivia's tradition of electoral fraud, recent elections were considered the most open and honest elections in Bolivia's history.
Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion in Bolivia, and is supported by the state, although citizens may practice the religion of their choice.1 Roman Catholic Church officials receive monthly salaries from the government. The government appointed the Catholic church as the organizer of all public religious activities. There are about 400 religious groups in Bolivia. Eighty-five percent of the population practices Roman Catholicism, 11% are Evangelical Christians, and 4% belong to other faiths.2 Protestants are most active religious minority. Missionary groups are required to register with the Foreign Ministry as nongovernmental organizations (NGO's).
Some prominent lay Catholics believe that the official status of the Roman Catholic Church in Bolivia harms the church instead of helping it, because of potential undue interferences of the state in religious matters.3
After Bolivia's independence in 1825, the members of the Constitutional Convention in 1826 established a regime of absolute religious intolerance. The first constitution of Bolivia, in Article 6 read: "The Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Religion is the one of the Republic, excluding any other public worship. The Government will protect it, and will enforce respect for it, recognizing that there is no human power on the consciences."4
In order to secure that protection, the Penal Code of 1834, Article 139, stated: "Anyone who conspires directly and in fact to establish another religion in Bolivia or (promotes) that the Republic cease to profess the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Religion, is traitor and will be punished with the death penalty."5
This regime of absolute religious intolerance was maintained even up to the Bolivian Constitution of 1880. Article 2 of that constitution stated: "The state recognizes and supports the Roman, Apostolic, Catholic Religion, prohibiting the public exercise of any other worship, except in the colonies where there will be tolerance." 6 Thus, religious freedom was a necessary measure to attract foreign immigration, but was not recognized for Bolivian citizens.
A special Law of August 27, 1906, opened the door for the free expression of any non-Catholic worship. The Catholic hierarchy condemned the measure and voiced its opposition because it wanted to remain the only religion in the state.7
On the other hand, historically, the Catholic church has claimed its independence from an old colonial institution: the patronage. In colonial times, the patronage meant the right of the kings of Spain to appoint the Catholic bishops and other ecclesiastical authorities. The Bolivian republic inherited this institution; therefore, for more than a century the state exercised power over the church, and in some cases, restricted its activities because of political interests.8
Some Catholic intellectuals believe that the current linkage between the Catholic church and the state is a sequel of the patronage, since it means some type of state power over the church. Currently, the constitution considers the Catholic clergy as public officials.9
The Constitution of 1938 established religious freedom, stating that while the state recognizes and supports Roman Catholicism, it also "guarantees the public exercise of any other worship."10
Several violent actions motivated by religious intolerance against non-Catholics have been committed in the past. For instance, in 1949, eight Baptist leaders, including a Canadian missionary, were stoned to death in Mercamaya, Department of Oruro, by a mob of Catholic peasants. Some witnesses declared that the Catholic priest of the town motivated the attack.11
Evangelicals were not allowed to be buried in the local cemeteries which were controlled by the Catholic church, and their marriages were not legal unless performed by the Catholic church. Evangelicals could not carry out many administrative duties because they lacked birth certificates which were issued by the Catholic church.
In November 1991, a group of Evangelical leaders petitioned the separation of church and state to the Bolivian Congress. The petition was backed by more than 24,000 signatures. However, church and state relations were not included in the recent constitutional reform, which concluded in August, 1994.
Constitutional Provisions and Legislation Relating to Religion
The constitution acknowledges the Roman Catholic religion as the official one, while citizens are free to practice the religion of their choice.12
The fourteenth Political Constitution of Bolivia of February 2, 1967 (and partially reformed in August, 1994) states the following concerning religious liberty:
Article 3. The State recognizes and sustains the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman religion. It guarantees the public exercise of all other religions. The relationship with the Catholic Church will be governed through concordats between the Bolivian State and the Holy See.13The position of Under-Secretariat of Religious Affairs was created in 1971 to supervise and approve programs for public ceremonies in streets, squares, and stadiums, and on radios, television channels, etc., for functions concerning non-Catholic churches.
In 1990, the Under-Secretariat of Religious Affairs attempted unsuccessfully to introduce a Worship Regulations Act, which would have required from all non-Catholic churches the complete list of names and identification numbers of members, submission of doctrinal statements for approval, required permits in order to carry out public meetings, radio and TV programs, an annual financial audit, and personal information about the church leaders.
The recently approved Law of Educational Reform, despite introducing many new provisions to strengthen democracy and respect for the cultural environment of children, openly discriminates against non-Catholic students, stating:
Article 57 "In all public and non- confessional private schools, the religion according to its confessional nature. In both cases, if there is not agreement with the religion taught at the school, it can be requested a change to a subject on ethics and morality."14However, religious minorities have pointed out that the possibility of taking an alternative subject for non-Catholic students has been nearly impracticable since 1954, when this measure was first enacted.
Recent Reported Cases of Religious Intolerance
All non-Catholic churches are required to register with the government. In order to process their incorporation papers they must be signed by a government notary, a public district attorney, the Minister of Foreign Relations, and the President of the country. They must follow a long procedure (which takes up to two years) and can cost around $1,000 (U.S.) in legal expenses and fees. This requirement constitutes a major legal obstacle to the exercise of religious liberty in a country where the annual per capita income is $350 (U.S.).
In November 1994, the General Commander of the Army issued an internal order prohibiting the entrance of any religious minister that does not belong to the official Catholic church, to facilities of the Army in the whole country.15 An Evangelical lawyer filed a lawsuit against the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Bolivia in order to lift the ban, but a Superior Court ruled in favor of the Commander in Chief, and the ban is still in effect.
In November 1994, a Bolivian senator sent a Petition for a Written Report Petition to the Minister of Foreign Relations and Worship concerning the "existence of clandestine (as non-registered churches are called) religious cults" and on governmental politics to "control" the work of those groups.16 According to Evangelical spokespersons, this petition wrongfully considered illegal or clandestine all non-Catholic churches (and especially Evangelical ones) although many of them were in the process of getting their incorporation papers recognized by the state.
On November 27, 1994, the influential Catholic newspaper "Presencia" published a 12-page supplement very negative of all non-Catholic religious groups in Bolivia. The publication contained at least 17 articles that criticized doctrine and practice of non-Catholic groups, especially new Protestant churches of charismatic type.17 Some articles and interviews with prominent Catholic priests credited the rapid growth of new Evangelical churches in Bolivia for mental disorders of persons.18 Several articles stated that religious "cults" were causing major outbreaks of mental disease in the population. The same supplement published an interview with the Under Secretary of Worship, who said that in her opinion there were not dangerous religious groups in Bolivia. She admitted that her office had "warned" an Evangelical television channel about airing some messages contrary to Catholic doctrines.19
In October 1994, two Evangelical public school teachers were threatened by officials of the Education Ministry for not participating in an animist-Catholic festival held in their school. (The Catholic hierarchy theoretically rejects these kinds of celebrations, even though they do not hinder them in practice.)20
In La Paz, two public hospitals posted signs in 1993, prohibiting the entrance of evangelical groups, posting of religious propaganda, proselytizing, or any other non-catholic activity. One hospital director said that a Catholic priest pressured him into posting signs prohibiting the activity of evangelicals and other non-catholic groups.21
In August 1994, the Municipal Council of El Alto (a city close to La Paz), threatened all evangelical churches in the city with a forced closure unless they paid a "license fee." This tax is commonly required from grocery stores, bars, restaurants, and other similar businesses.22
In June 1994, the Catholic Archbishop of Tarija, declared to the press that "Those cults, [meaning evangelical churches], are tools of the [U.S.] imperialism," and called for a strong Catholic reaction against Protestants in Bolivia, adding that "Those cults [or "sects, " as the Catholic hierarchy refers to Evangelicals] are dividing the Bolivian family."23
In June 1993, the Education Ministry issued a resolution to double the time of Catholic education classes in both private and public schools.24
Many Evangelicals and members of other religious minorities have complained in the last months that their children are customarily ridiculed in public schools by Catholic religion teachers. Also, in many public schools, students, regardless of their religion, are forced to attend Mass, to make pilgrimages to Catholic shrines, under academic pressure. In the last two years several Catholic private schools expelled many Evangelical students because of their faith.
In Cotoca, Department of Santa Cruz, municipal authorities passed in March 1993 an ordinance prohibiting the establishment of any new non-Catholic churches within the urban area and closely regulating the activities of religious groups already established there.
In September 1992, a group of evangelicals was threatened and later stoned by a mob of peasants near Llallagua, Department of Potosi. The attackers declared that they did not want Evangelical Christians on those lands. As recently as May 1994, those threats continued.
In 1992, a group of evangelicals was imprisoned by local authorities in Capinota, Department of Cochabamba, because they had broken a Catholic worship image. One of the evangelicals said that he was the owner of the image and decided to break it because he had converted to Evangelical Christianity.
ENDNOTES
1. U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1996): Internet, 6.2. Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda, June 1992.
3. José Luis Baptista, "Separemos iglesia y estado." Cuarto Intermedio Nº28, (Cochabamba, Bolivia, August 1993): 61.
4. John W. Whitehead and Pedro C. Moreno, Iglesia y Estado en las Américas, (Cala, Bolivia, 1994): 60.
5. ibid, note 6, 61.
6. ibid.
7. José Luis Baptista, note 6, 65.
8. ibid, note 6, 72.
9. ibid.
10. Marcelo Galindo de Ugarte, Constituciones Bolivianas Comparadas (Bolivia: Editorial los Amigos del Libro, 1991): 11.
11. Alejandro López Claros, Los Mártires del Evangelio en Bolivia (Gráfica Soliz, Bolivia 1994).
12. U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993 (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1994): 370.
13. Pedro C. Moreno, "Constitutional Reforms in Latin America Promoting Religious Freedom," at the XXXI Annual Conference of the Inter-American Bar Association (Paper Presented in Puerto Rico: June 25-30, 1994): 14.
14. Secretaría Nacional de Educación, En la Hora de la Reforma (Ministerio de Desarrollo Humano, July 1994): 15.
15. "Prohiben terminantemente ingreso de ministros no-católicos al ejército boliviano." The Rutherford (Spanish Version) (December 1994): 2.
16. ibid.
17. "Reportajes." (La Paz: Presencia, November 27, 1994).
18. ibid, note 21, 3.
19. ibid, note 21, 2.
20. The Rutherford Institute of Bolivia, News Release, October 12, 1994.
21. U.S. Department of State (1993): 370.
22."Comuna amenazó con clausurar varias iglesias evangélicas." El Diario (October 16, 1994).
23. "Sectas religiosas invaden a los barrios periféricos." El Diario (July 3, 1994).
24. Rutherford Magazine (August, 1994): 8.
Other Sources:
March 2, 1994: Letter from Lic. Marta U. de Aguirre, Vice Minister of Worship, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
June 6, 1995: Letter from Andrés Petricevic R., Ambassador - Embassy of Bolivia.
Summer of 1992: Interview with Vice-Minister of Religious Affairs.