LA ASISTENCIA RELIGIOSA A LAS FUERZAS ARMADAS EN AMÉRICA LATINA

Abstract

Religious assistance to the Armed Forces in Latin America is rooted in its Hispanic-Catholic tradition, and remained in the new countries that emerged in the process of independence of the nineteenth century. The subsequent erection of military vicariate, converted into bishoprics after the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution Spirituali Militum Curae, has been made possible by concordats in most cases, except in states that have adopted a secular model in their constitutions. Currently the military religious assistance consolidates and opens up to other than the Catholic religious denominations, because priority is given to guaranteeing the right of religious freedom over the separation of church and state.