RECRISTIANIZAR PARA SALVAR. LA LEGIÓN MEXICANA DE LA DECENCIA COMO PROYECTO CULTURAL EN EL MODUS VIVENDI.

RE-CHRISTIANIZE TO SAVE. THE MEXICAN LEGION OF DECENCY AS A CULTURAL PROJECT IN THE MODUS VIVENDI.

CATHOLICS; CRIMINAL sentencing; CHURCH & state; CHURCH membership; RELIGIOUS institutions; CENSORSHIP; FILMMAKING; CRIMINAL codes; MEXICANS

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar a la Legión Mexicana de la Decencia, en su estructura y plan de acción, como un proyecto católico que, desde el resguardo de la moralidad de la producción fílmica, coadyuvó a hacer operativa la estabilidad de las relaciones Iglesia-Estado, entre 1938 y 1960. En sintonía con la derecha católica, este tipo de iniciativas abrieron campo a una injerencia vedada, aunque activa y sostenida, de la institución eclesiástica en la esfera pública de la sociedad mexicana. Sus acciones admitían una capacidad de intervención que iba desde la vida cotidiana de un feligrés hasta posibles sanciones estipuladas en el código penal por ataque a la moral. Como entidad inserta en un proyecto amplio de reafirmación de la moral católica, en convivencia con el Estado mexicano, la Legión responde a tres grandes referentes: los mandatos pontificios, el activismo laical posterior a los acuerdos de paz de 1929 y la experiencia estadounidense en la censura moral del cine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to analyze the Mexican Legion of Decency, in its structure and plan of action, as a Catholic project that, from the safeguarding of the morality of film production, contributed to the stability of relations between Church and State, between 1938 and 1960. In dialogue with the Catholic right, this kind of initiative opened the way to a forbidden interference, although active and sustained, of the ecclesiastical institution in the public sphere of Mexican society. Their actions admitted a capacity for intervention that ranged from the daily life of a parishioner to possible sanctions stipulated in the penal code for an attack on morals. The Legion was part of a project to reaffirm Catholic morality, in collusion with the Mexican State, through three major references: the pontifical mandates, lay activism after the 1929 peace accords, and the American experience in the moral censorship of cinema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Signos Históricos is the property of Signos Historicos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)