Socio-Political Factors Affecting the Growth of the Mormon Church in Argentina Since 1925

196 Pages·2017·8.62 MB·English

BBrriigghhaamm YYoouunngg UUnniivveerrssiittyy
BBYYUU SScchhoollaarrssAArrcchhiivvee
Theses and Dissertations
1968
SSoocciioo--PPoolliittiiccaall FFaaccttoorrss AAffffeeccttiinngg tthhee GGrroowwtthh ooff tthhee MMoorrmmoonn
CChhuurrcchh iinn AArrggeennttiinnaa SSiinnccee 11992255
Michael B. Smurthwaite
Brigham Young University - Provo
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BBYYUU SScchhoollaarrssAArrcchhiivvee CCiittaattiioonn
Smurthwaite, Michael B., "Socio-Political Factors Affecting the Growth of the Mormon Church in Argentina
Since 1925" (1968). Theses and Dissertations. 5126.
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S
m491
sociopolitical
SOCIO POLITICAL FACTORS AFFECTING
THE GROWTH OF THE
MORMON CHURCH IN ARGENTINA SINCE 1925
10
thesis
A
presented to
the
history
department of
young university
brigham
partial
in fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
arts
master of
by
michael ssmmuurrtthhwvaaiittee
B
august
1968
M
PFRREEFFAACCEE
since mormon missionaries have pprroosseellyytteedr in catholic
1925
yet
argentina the argentine mission has grown very slowly and en-
countered difficulties did the mmiissssiioonnaarireies1s north american
many
1
image affect the missionary work did the predominance of the cath-
olic church stunt the growth of the new sect how did the impact of
bitter
US argentine international relations during the second world
peron
war and the advent of affect the reception of mormonism in
argentina
these questions concerning the history of the mormon church
in argentina since 1ig9o0 can best understood by considering the
1199400 be
episodes of argentine history which bear directly on the history of
the church in that country hence this thesis will offer a broader
interpretation of the official history of the argentine mission than
that written by the mission secretaries and historians moreover
it igo
will concentrate years
on the between 1199400 and 1968 which seems
it
the most significant era since embraces the cchhuurrcchhess confrontation
peron
with the second world war and increasing membership
the author wishes to acknowledge the valuable assistance re-
ceived during research by the staff of the church hhhiiissstttooorririaianantnss ts office
in salt llaekkee city sincere gratitude is expressed to young
E
W
president
frederick williams samuel boren and especially theo-
S A
dore tuttle for their iinntteerrvviieeww time special thanks goes to dr george
addy thesis chairman for his patience and help and to hermine horman
iii
and mark bench for typing and proofreading the drafts and offering
valuable assistance last but not least appreciation is expressed to
wife heather without help support this not
my whose and work would
possible
have been
the aauutthhoorrttaakkee8s full responsibility for the contents any
and
faults are hhhiiigssaanndd not those ooofdfttthhheee aaffoorreemmeennttioionneeddiinnddiivviidduuaallss
TABLE OF CONTENTS
page
iii
PREFACE
vii
LIST OF TABLES
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
chapter
I beginnings
1 MORMON IN ARGENTINA 1
argentine
review
the catholic nature of argentine society
mormon beginnings in argentina
social factors in early mormon development
II argentines
11 22
LOOK AT AMERICANS
period
the of emulation 1118882224441188118888&888&8
the period of fear 18891929
1889
1929
period distrust
the of neighborly 19291945
1929 1945
prid
argentine pride
e and north americans
north americans in argentina
at
argentines
look mormon missionaries
lliili
III
II
111 THE MORMON CHURCH IN ARGENTINA DURING WORLD WAR 11 37
argentina scene controversy over war
of the
president
the
mormon church under
period
wwiilllliaiammss during the ortiz
ttlhlee mormon church dduurriinnggtthhee castillo period
111999444000444433
3
argentina after pearl
the mormon church in harbor
IV THE MORMON CHURCH IN PPEERROONSS ARGENTINA 744
years
early
the
president visits
stephen richards argentina
L
peron
government versus
the the mcoorrmmoonnss 194850
Mormons 1948
50
peron
the mormon church during the decline of
president visits ppeerroonns argentina
david
0 mckay
1954
fall peron
the catholics and the of
v
ccoonntda
eonta
contd
TABLE OF CONTENTS
IN
V A STUDY CONTRASTS URUGUAY 125
the foundation of the mormon church
uruguay
in
contrasts argentina uruguay
between and
VI 143
THE MORMON CHURCH MOVES INTO THE MODERN ERA
era
beginning the mmooddeermn 11995555-11996600
the impact of mormon chapels in argentina
picture era
of the mormon church in the modern
VII 164
SUMMARY
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
APPENDIX 177
0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 a 0 0 a 9 4 0 0 9 0 0 0 0
argentine growth
mission
A
north argentine mission growth
B
uruguayan growth
mission
C
bibliography
181
0 0 p it 0 9.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
vi
LIST OF TABLES
page
number
era
argentine membership in the bkrraa
1 modern 157
igo
over
local leaders presiding branches 116600
2
0 0 0 0 0
LIST
OF MAPS
mormon chapels in argentina 153a
1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
vii
I
CHAPTER 1
beginnings
begtnningsin
IN ARGENTINA 1199225511993355
MORMON
after eight aires instru-
months in buenos where he had been
mental in ooppeenniinngg Aaarrrgggeeennntittniianntaoattoo mormon missionary wwvooorrkrkkmmmmeeeelllivvvviilinnnn J ballard
a mormon apostle told of tthheepprroossppeeccttss of the mission
work will go slowly ffoorr a time just as an oak grows
slowly from an acorn not shoot up in a day as does the
sunflower that grows quickly and dies but thousands
it
will join the church here will be divided into more
strongest
than one mission and will be one of the in the
it
church the work here is the smallest will ever be
tthheessoouutthh american mission will be a power in the
0
church
review of argentina will afford understanding of the ground into
A some
which the seeds of mormonism were sown
argentine
review
argentine aspect argentine
topography one major of the
country is its overwhelming size stretching to a length of 2300
miles aarrggeennttiinnaallaacckkss only 7to0o0mmiilleess of being aass long as the united
700
states is wide the country spreads to about 980 miles at its widest
2
point and contains 1084359 square miles of land
aarrggeennttiinnaess great naturally
expanse has maae communication
made
and national unity difficult throughout of her history mormon
much
1
right-
the ballard family J ballard crusader for
melvin
salt city
eousness lake utah bookcraft 1966 p 84
2s2 aarrggeennttiinnaa
argentina tl the world book ennncccyyyccclllooopppeeedddliiaaa 1956 ed vol I
E 1
2
farflung
lleeaaddeerrs encountered the same problems in administering the far flung
argentina
branches of the church in
population bbeessiiddeess its great size argentina has become
argentines
increasingly urbanized during the depression of the 1930s
1930
from the country pppooouuurrreeedddiiinnntttooo the cities by 11994400 buenos aires became
the most populous city in latin america with nearly per cent of the
25
argentine people crowded in or aarroouunndd the city three years later
during the war this percentage jumped to 3322.44 per cent other cities
324
also grew so that during the second world war nearly half or 4448886.66 per
2
cent of the people dwelt in cities with over ten thousand inhabitants
the 1956 census counted oovveerr 15893827 inhabitants and 4445556.66 per cent
3
aailrree
of them resided in or near buenos aalirreesss
gin
the mormon missionaries naturally cccooonnngggrreregegagtaeatdetidendwiiinnn the big
cities with buenos aires aass headquarters and the church grew in this
increasingly uurrbbaanniizseedd and industrialized nation the church did not
wed
send missionaries into the sparsely settled pampa or plain where the
president
famous gauchos herded thousands of cattle A theodore
tuttle former pprreessididenetnoft of all south american missions explained
that missionaries were sent only to ciiitttilieees sleallaarrrgggeee enough to support good
c
working conditions for the missionaries and which ccoouullddggrrooww into a
selfsustaining
self sustaining unit as large as a mormon stake thus communication and
ithe
to
the term the church normally refers the catholic church
but in this paper care will be taken to distinguish between the catholic
is
and the mormon church when the term used
2
latin
olen E leonard and charles P loomis eds american
press
state
social organizations and institutions michigan mmmiiiccchhhiilgaann
9
1953 papp 111444447444777
pedia
3world
cit
world book esinnccyy6&lllioooopbpeeedddiiiaaa op
22
3
leadership supervision
could be maintained
pr
ner
wer
over per cent of the urban argentine people are caucasian
90
europeans to argentina
descendants from who flocked between 1853 and
specifi-
1930 encouraged by the 1853 constitution which was designed
ar-
cally to foster immigration over 6300000 immigrants entered
quarters
gentina oonneehhaallff of remained three of the population
whom
are of spanish or italian descent while persons of german english
2 argen-
french ancestry constitute a substantial proportion thus
and
tina highly cosmopolitan
was
mi-
the mormon church inherited this cosmopolitan makeup
first requests
sssioionnaarriieess from north america came to argentina after
german joined earlier
from immigrants had the church and the
who
german
colony provided the main source of converts and leaders during
first
the decade
church and state in argentina argentina is one of the few
still
llaettiinn constitutionally support
countries the
american which
catholic church
the federal government supports the apostolic roman catholic
church to be elected president or vice president of thee
octie
it
nation is required to pertain to that
communion
argentine authorities deny that the supports clause makes
catholicism the official religion of the state and argue that the
position of the catholic church in the government was inherited from
lpersonal
personal
tTeerrssonal president tuttle
oonnaali interview with theodore
A
april
10 1968
1
p
2world encyclopedia cit
world book op
3ajjuuaann cionario
3 juan pinto dDiicccionario de la republica argentina buenos
aires editorial mundo aaArttlllaaannntttiiicccooo 1950 papp 727 746