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The socialist administration of Bolivian President Evo Morales maintains a strained relationship with the Bolivian hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. This has posed a problem for Morales as polls taken in the early 2000s indicate that 77% of the Bolivian population say they are Catholic, meaning that about seven million of the nine million Bolivians follow the Roman Catholic faith.〔 Retrieved on Feb. 12, 2007〕 When faced with a Morales policy that they disagree with—such as the proposed secularization of schools—Catholic Bishops of Bolivia are able to inspire large demonstrations against the measures. The Catholic Church draws most of its support from the cities and little from the higher rural areas (where Morales draws his main support) due to "a lack of resources and to indigenous cultural resistance to Church efforts to replace traditional attitudes".〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51628.htm ) Retrieved on Feb. 13, 2007〕 Morales has stated that he is a Catholic;〔 Retrieved on Feb. 13, 2007〕 he like many rural Bolivians was raised with a combination of Catholicism and belief in "the Pachamama or Mother Earth figure, as well as on Ekeko, a traditional indigenous god of luck, harvests, and general abundance".〔〔 Retrieved on Feb. 13, 2007〕 Other indigenous leaders, such as Felix Patzi, follow a pure indigenous faith and "discard all forms of Christianity; however, this effort has not led to a significant increase in the number of "indigenous-belief only" worshippers."〔 The special status that used to be given to Catholicism in Bolivia can be seen in Article 3 of the former Bolivian constitution (1967), which says, “The State recognizes and sustains the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Religion. It guarantees the public exercise of all other faiths. Relations with the Catholic Church shall be governed by concordats and agreements between the Bolivian State and the Holy See.”〔 Retrieved on Feb. 12, 2007〕 The United States State Department characterized this as constitutional recognition of Catholicism as the state religion.〔 However, after the enactment of the current Bolivian Constitution in 2009, the Roman Catholic church lost this official status.〔http://www.laconstituyente.org/ Retrieved on Nov. 30, 2011〕 Article 4 of the new Constitution states: "The State respects and guarantees the freedom of religion and spiritual beliefs, in accordance to every individual's cosmovisions. The State is independent from religion." This constitutional change, in addition to Morales' leftist policies, have contributed to the uneasy relationship between Church and state. ==Constitutional status of the Church== Until amendments in 2009, the Bolivian Constitution gave special recognition to the Roman Catholic Church. Though the United States State Department understood this to be establishment of the Church as the state religion,〔 leading Catholic bishops denied that they acknowledged or sought any official recognition. On June 18, 2006, the Archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Cardinal Julio Terrazas, addressed the rumors that parliamentary candidates were saying that the Catholic Church was demanding to be made the official religion of Bolivia. In his Sunday sermon, the cardinal assured people that they were “not seeking or fighting to achieve such a goal”.〔 He pointed out that the bishops had until recently been open to reviewing the Bolivian constitution’s article that granted special recognition to the role of Catholicism. The cardinal said, “They keep saying we are fighting for that article. Not so! Let it be reviewed, but let it be done intelligently and fully. Let’s not deny that this country has truly received the seeds of the Kingdom of justice and of truth that the Lord has brought, and that that has been part of her history, and that is why in so many parts of Bolivia we are proud to be Catholics.”〔 The cardinal pointed out that Catholicism had stopped being the official state religion of Bolivia since 1967 and said the Church is merely asking for “respect” and “recognition of the work she has done.”〔 He said those who are calling for secularism “are hiding their other intentions” to strip Bolivia of religion and “order a country in such a way that God is not present.”〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Evo Morales and the Roman Catholic Church」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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