20 Facts About Julio Meinvielle

Father Julio Meinvielle was an Argentine priest and prolific writer.

Julio Meinvielle was a staunch critic of what he perceived as slipping standards in Catholic teaching.

Julio Meinvielle took as the basis for his Catholicism the works of Thomas Aquinas and the Papal encyclicals Rerum novarum and Quadragesimo anno, contrasting them with his twin political hates of liberalism and communism.

Julio Meinvielle was critical of capitalism and Marxism and he sought to draw parallels between the two by arguing that materialism was the basis for both.

Julio Meinvielle added a strong belief in Sinarquia, a secret society designed to conspire to bring about Jewish domination of the world.

Julio Meinvielle further contended that Judaism had the destruction of Christianity as its basis and therefore argued that whatever ills befell the Christian world were inherently the fault of the Jews.

Whilst his ideas owed a lot to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Julio Meinvielle did not explicitly endorse that document, as a number of contemporary court cases had found it to be a fraud.

Julio Meinvielle added a Christological dimension to his anti-Semitism by arguing that the grand struggle between Christianity and Judaism was a parallel to that between Jesus Christ and Satan.

Julio Meinvielle did however feel that it was possible to defeat the Jews by unity and, where necessary, violence, drawing on the notions of Nimio de Anquin that violence in service of 'truth' is justified.

Julio Meinvielle was particularly enamoured of the falangism variant as he was a believer in the virtues of Hispanidad and Spain playing a leading role in the fortunes of Latin America.

Julio Meinvielle did however feel that the cult of personality surrounding both Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler was contrary to Catholicism and the primacy of Christ and so argued that any Argentine version of fascism would have to be avowedly religious and anti-secular.

Julio Meinvielle subsequently joined the Nueva Politica group when Sanchez Sorondo established it in 1941.

Julio Meinvielle continued to write widely and from the late 1940s to the 1960s he published three journals, Balcon, Dialogo and Presencia, in which he expressed his religious and political views.

Julio Meinvielle was particularly critical of Peron's attempts to woo the trade union movement to his side and subsequently denounced Peron as a demagogue.

In 1952 Julio Meinvielle became a leading figure in the Union Federale, a post-Peron party of the right.

Julio Meinvielle was a strong critic of the regime of Juan Carlos Ongania, claiming that he was acting on behalf of Sinarquia.

In July 1973, Julio Meinvielle was hit by a truck while crossing the road.

Julio Meinvielle was hospitalized for a month at the San Camilo Clinic with multiple fractures and died on 2 August 1973.

Julio Meinvielle's influence was strong throughout the far right in Argentina.

Julio Meinvielle was influential on the Argentine scouting movement as he was founder of the Union Scouts Catolicos Argentinos.