Antonio Juan Baseotto (4 April 1932 – 26 May 2025) was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

bishop from

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Until February 2005 he was Argentina's military bishop (''obispo castrense''), that is, the head of the military

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

s, with the status of Subsecretary of State.

Biography

Baseotto was born on 4 April 1932 and ordained as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1957. In the 1980s, he served in the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

Añatuya Añatuya is a city in the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It has 23,286 inhabitants as per the , and is the head town of the General Taboada Department. It lies on the southeast of the province, east of the Salado River, and about 150& ...

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...

, a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

ruled in a quasi-

feudalistic Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring societ ...

fashion by the indefinitely-reelected old-time

Peronist Peronism, also known as justicialism, is an Argentine ideology and movement based on the ideas, doctrine and legacy of Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th- and 21st-century Argentine politics. Since 1946, Pe ...

Carlos Juárez. During this time, he was reportedly in close relation with the Juárez family. He was in charge of the Sunday programming schedule in a local TV channel and several times he was formally accused of

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

due to public statements on air. Among other things, in 1986 he affirmed that most of the Jewish community in Argentina "devotes itself, with much skill and often with very few moral principles, to big business... It does not matter the means... If

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

is good business, he Jewsells pornography. And if

drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...

s are good business, he sells drugs...". He also claimed that "the means for spreading culture are in the hands of the Hebrews", who are "disintegrat ngthe bases" of the national civilization and culture. He never went to court or apologized for these statements. Baseotto was also allegedly involved in the murder of Jimena Hernández in 1988. According to some sources, he ordered the murder of the girl because she discovered by mistake a meeting between the bishop and drug traffickers. Baseotto ordered Pablo López to kill her and then masked his escape, making him pass by a false priest in the diocese of which he was in charged, Añatuya. In 1992 Baseotto was appointed bishop of his diocese. He spent a total of 27 years in Añatuya. During his time, he was acknowledged as a supporter of the provincial government and especially of its

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force, accused of innumerable abuses and violations of

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

. In bishops' meetings he repeatedly refused to condemn or criticize the policies of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Menem's administration (denounced by most other bishops as causes of

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

). He once stated that laws on reproductive and sexual health (passed in several provinces), which make the State responsible for providing

contraceptive Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

s to the population, "legitimize

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

", and compared them to

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. He also made this comparison referring to

aborted Aborted is a Belgian death metal band formed in 1995 in Waregem. The group currently consists of vocalist, founder, and only constant member Sven de Caluwé, along with guitarists Ian Jekelis and Dan Konráðsson. Although the band originally ...

fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...

es ("segregated", he claimed, as when "non-

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

s" were selected for extermination). In November 2002, Baseotto was appointed military vicar (''vicario castrense'') by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. Due to a previous agreement with the

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, this post implies an official position as Subsecretary of State (with monthly wages of about 4,500 Argentine pesos, about 1,500

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

). On 10 December 2004, during the Mass of the Dead for the Country, Baseotto justified the violations of

committed during the so-called

Dirty War The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

: "It was a war, and in a war it is impossible to avoid excesses". (See also '' Theory of the two demons''.) On 18 February 2005, Baseotto became a national focus of controversy after he sent a letter to the national Minister of Health

Ginés González García Ginés González García (31 August 1945 – 18 October 2024) was an Argentine politician and physician who served twice as the country's Ministry of Health (Argentina), Minister of Health under the successive presidencies of Eduardo Duhalde an ...

, accusing him of committing "

apology Apology, The Apology, apologize/apologise, apologist, apologetics, or apologetic may refer to: Common uses * Apology (act), an expression of remorse or regret * Apologia, a formal defense of an opinion, position, or action Arts, entertainment ...

of crime" because of the minister's support for the legalization of

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

in Argentina. Baseotto expressed his disgust by paraphrasing

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9:42 ("And whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it were better for him if a great millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea") and suggesting that González García should be given that treatment. Besides the usage of scripture (widely acknowledged as inappropriate even by other Catholic bishops), Baseotto was heavily criticized because this "punishment" echoes the infamous ''vuelos de la muerte'' ("flights of death") whereby

prisoners A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a sentence in priso ...

of the last military regime were dumped into the

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from planes. The conflict escalated and caused the Argentine government to relieve Baseotto of his job as the head of the military

s. This prompted accusations on the part of Catholic observers (also fueled by

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

opposition leaders and media) that such actions threatened

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

. The government pointed out that Baseotto was still a bishop and could celebrate Mass and perform pastoral duties wherever he chose — he would not be on the state payroll. Baseotto resigned, following Canon Law, upon turning 75.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

officially accepted the resignation on 15 May 2007, and appointed the Vicar General Pedro Candia for the post on a temporary basis until a new chaplain was chosen. Baseotto died on 26 May 2025, at the age of 93.Murió monseñor Antonio Baseotto, el obispo que generó un largo conflicto entre el gobierno de Kirchner y el Vaticano

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baseotto, Antonio 1932 births 2025 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Argentina 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Argentina Argentine military chaplains 20th-century Argentine military personnel 21st-century Argentine military personnel Roman Catholic bishops of Añatuya Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II