Roman Catholicism, Secularization and the Recovery of Traditional Communal Values: The 1998 and 2007 Referenda on Abortion in Portugal

Abstract

In the 34 years since the 25 April 1974 Carnation Revolution, there have been sporadic efforts by progressive forces to legalize abortion in Portugal. This activity has intensified over the past nine years, culminating with two national referenda on the subject. This article investigates the Roman Catholic Church's contemporary role in Portuguese society. That is, would the Church maintain its traditional influential role over public policy formation in a secularizing Portugal, especially related to its moral teaching? Additionally, the authors identify another dimension of the national debate over abortion: the pro-choice side's successful harmonization of its rhetoric to certain traditional communal values found in Portuguese society — namely compassion, solidarity and support — and, in so doing, forged a recovery of those values.

Keywords:

• Abortion
• Portugal
• Referendum
• Catholicism
• Europe

Notes

 [1] The law, which was enacted in 1928, has a heavy penalty for offenders. In 2007, a celebrated Portuguese bullfighter was fined $137,000 for killing a bull at the end of a fight (Bilefsky 2007).

 [2] There were two trials in 1979. The first trial was of a journalist who produced a TV programme on abortion. He was tried for moral outrage. The second trial involved a student nurse who had an abortion (Vilar 2002).

 [3] The three most important documents relating to religious freedom in contemporary Portugal are the Portuguese Constitution of 1976, the 2001 Religious Freedom Act and the 1940 Concordat. The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, the Religious Freedom Act grants non-Catholic religions the same benefits previously only ascribed to the Roman Catholic Church, and the 1940 Concordat between the Portuguese government and the Vatican is currently being revised in light of Vatican II understandings of church-state relations. All of this is quite distinct from the virulently anti-clerical and secular Lei de Separação (Church/State separation law) in 1911 which actually placed the Church under the control of the state. Civil authorities are dialoguing with the Church authorities to allow for both secular and clerical space in Portuguese society. In short, these new procedures and understanding adopted since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and the Portuguese democratic transition in the 1970s invite the Catholic Church to participate in public policy process, but not to control it (Manuel & Mott 2006).

 [4] Accordingly, many Catholic figures used their voices through media outlets to appeal to the large Portuguese Catholic community arguing that ‘the right to life is inviolable and cannot be discussed.’ The same was true during the 2007 debate, see ‘Missa não é local de campanha. Há outros momentos’, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, available online at: http://www.rtp.pt/index.php?article = 266519&visual = 16

 [5] See ‘Cardeal D. José Policarpo diz que aborto é uma atitude egoísta’, PortugalDiário, available online at: http://www.portugaldiario.iol.pt/noticia.php?id = 764989

 [6] In Vilar's words, ‘It [abortion] has always been a part of life here. Everyone knows where to have an abortion in Portugal, including judges, the police and all the authorities. It has been very consistent, both before and after the revolution in 1974: the state always wanted to say publicly that they were against abortion and that they had banned it, but there has always been a culture of tolerance towards abortions’ (Vilar quoted in Irish Times, 1998).

 [7] Many protested about the trials by signing petitions to end the law while others protested outside the site of the trial. Francisco Louca, the leader of the Left Block [BE] well articulated the pro-choice position at that moment in Portugal with this observation, ‘The court was a prisoner of the law and this is why the crime was the trial itself. Having to try people who chose to terminate their pregnancies, to have an abortion, is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue in Portugal’ (BBC 2002).

 [8] Sócrates faced opposition from Patrido Popular leader, José Ribeiro e Castro, who claimed that ‘Sócrates will be responsible for this sad chapter in Portugal's history, for insisting on a political move that has split Portuguese society’ (Sócrates quoted in The Toronto Star 2007).

 [9] By 2007, many European countries had adopted more liberal abortion laws leaving only four European countries without abortion on demand. Sócrates focused on the Portuguese people's desire to thrive among its other European neighbours.

[10] Apelo religioso não tem qualquer efeito no voto católico: Igreja Praticantes separam religião da política', PortugalDiário, available online at: http://www.portugaldiario.iol.pt/noticia.php?id = 502368&div_id = 291