I:6 Anti-dumping - Society for Irish Latin American Studies

An article, which appeared in The Standard in 1925, stated that:
“Wherever the Irish settled, their priests went with them to direct their progress and share their trials. In Argentina,
the priests made sure that the first Irish immigrants who had become wealthy farmers donated land to build
chapels which became not only places of worship but also schools and social centres for the whole community.” [75]
A quick look at the schools described previously should suffice to demonstrate that the majority of the
Irish-Argentine schools were linked to religious orders. The example of Father Fahy, the visionary Dominican
who founded the first Irish-Argentine school, was followed by the priests he had formed and
brought from Ireland, such as Patrick Joseph Dillon and Michael Leahy.
The Sisters of Mercy occupy the first place in the “Honour roll”: besides establishing numerous schools
(Mater Misericordiae, Saint Ethnea’s, Saint Mary’s, Clonmacnoise, Saint Anne’s, etc.), they also administered
others, such as Saint Bridget’s. The Passionist Fathers founded Saint Paul’s in Carmen de Areco, while the
Pallotines created Saint Patrick’s in Mercedes. The Passionist Sisters established Michael Ham Memorial
College and the Christian Brothers, Cardinal Newman. And let’s not forget the religious orders connected
with the schools of the Ladies of Saint Joseph’s Society!
In the period we are studying, very few schools were private enterprises. The first schools established by
private individuals had a short life. Lawrence Dillon and Sean Healy were more successful. Beyond the
religious or non-religious origin, the great majority of these establishments have religious names, resorting
often to saints.
If we study the programmes, we confirm that religion is part of the curriculum of every single Irish-
Argentine school, both before and after the secularisation of education (through the Ley 1420 of 1884).
We have mentioned the religious practices of the girls’ schools which included masses, rosaries and
peregrinations. Sacred history is also mentioned in the advertisements of different schools.
The Southern Cross also admonished the parents about the necessity of educating children in the faith of
their elders. The newspaper joined other media in deploring the sanction of the Ley 1420, receiving it as
the triumph of “godless education”. [76]
In a pastoral letter addressed to the Irish-Argentines, Monsignor Espinosa warns that:
“The great evil of these times is the religious indifference with which our environment is saturated, and even the
most pious families suffer the consequences of this evil, if parents don’t show the necessary concern for the formation
of their children’s heart. Do not entrust them to the cares of non Catholic teachers, since the impression caused on
your children when they see that people they respect do not profess the faith of their parents, is usually undeletable.
When choosing a school always favour catholic schools, that devote themselves especially to the religious instruction of
their pupils.” [77]
“Every Catholic child in a Catholic school” was the slogan that the author of the section “The Catholic
World” proposed to adopt in his article of March 19, 1926. He compared the “disloyal and disobedient”
Catholics who sent their children to secular schools” to those “good” Catholics who “gladly made sacrifices
to safeguard their children against the perils to faith and morals, so common in a society which is fast
persuading itself that it can get along better without God than with God.” [78]
The rejection of secular education is present in a 1933 article that urges to follow the example of Brazil -
where religious education had been reinstated- and which states:
“Till the clear idea of God and the duties of men towards Him pervades in our national life, we shall not
have real civilization. Our educational system is growing powerless before the evils of the times. Our youth
are growing up into a race of criminals. Our schools are seriously endangered by Communism and sane
and sound patriotism is on the wane. The only real remedy is implantation of religion in our schools.”
[79]
Closely connected to the religious formation is moral education, which stems out from the former. Sean
Healy expressed his point of view:
“[…] education is a far greater matter than the mere acquisition of proficiency in scholastic subjects. The
good teacher is constantly preoccupied with the formation and development of character, the inculcation
of moral values such as self-discipline, the virtues of truth, courage, loyalty and honesty, which form the
María José Roger, The Children of the Diaspora .................................................................................. 17