The virgin of Verdún and the political struggle against secularization in Uruguay

Abstract

Monreal shows how the image of the Virgin of Verdún rose in a context of strong secularization in Uruguay during the first third of the twentieth century. The hill of Verdún, 120 kilometers from Montevideo, was not a place of apparitions or traditional devotions. However, the image of Mary attracted many believers who sought to reaffirm the Catholic identity of Uruguayan society. Monreal draws the attention on how Catholics saw Marian pilgrimages as expressions of resistance while anticlericals considered them manifestations of fanaticism. Rejected or venerated, Our Lady of Verdún motivated attitudes of violence or relief and became the symbol of either a society without religion or a Christian homeland.