Julián Espina

Julián Espina (* 1964 in Gijón , Spain ) is an Argentine Christian fundamentalist and priest . He is the leader of a radical Catholic, only loosely organized group that is mainly active in Córdoba and made the headlines through numerous, sometimes violent actions, especially against cultural events that this group regarded as blasphemous .

Espina describes herself as the "slave of the Virgin Mary" and is a supporter of Lefebvrism , a traditionalist Catholic splinter group that combats the reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council . The official Argentine Lefebvrism, however, has distanced itself from Espina's actions.

Life

When Espina was 4 years old, he moved to Argentina with his family. After military service, he entered a seminary at the age of 19. Today he lives in El Retiro Molinari , near the city of Cosquín .

Actions of Espina and his followers

The group around Espina first became known to the Argentine public in 1996 when they tried to prevent the screening of the film The Last Temptation of Christ in the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba .

In 2004 there was a violent confrontation between Espina and a group of artists who had organized an exhibition in the City Hall of Córdoba. The trigger was an image that the Virgin Mary during copulation with the Holy Spirit showed. The event was suspended because of the incident, and as a result two employees of the mayor's office of Córdoba were dismissed by the city government under Luis Juez , who is himself a devout Catholic, because they were identified as responsible for the event.

In 2007 the group was present in the media several times. In June of this year, Espina and a group of supporters, including a well-known hooligan (barrabrava) from Club Atlético Belgrano , stormed a cultural center and destroyed all the works of art on display by an Argentine painter. The trigger were several satirical works, among which a nativity scene with a television instead of the baby Jesus and a Virgin Mary urinated on by two angels, provoked the group's anger. Espina and a few others were subsequently arrested, but were soon released. The case became the dominant headline in many Argentine media.

In October 2007, the group obstructed an exhibition at the University of Cordoba on the subject of freedom of expression by blocking the entrance area of ​​the function room. In this exhibition, too, the trigger were satirical pictures and sculptures that dealt with topics of the Catholic Church. As a result, charges were brought against Espina.

Web links

• Article about Espina. In: Página / 12 (Spanish)
• Interview with Espina. In: La Voz del Interior (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Página 12 , October 18, 2007
2. ↑ Lefebvristas toman distancia respecto de Julián Espina . In: La Voz del Interior (Spanish)
3. ↑ Interview with Espina (Spanish)
4. ↑ Article. In: Clarín
5. ↑ Article. In: Perfil
6. ↑ Article. In: La Voz del Interior (Spanish)
7. ↑ Grupo Ultra católico lanza cruzada en Argentina contra obras 'blasfemas' .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Yahoo News (Spanish)  
8. ↑ Analysis of the incident by the University of Córdoba ( Memento of the original from October 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Spanish)