Churches in unjust political systems: The need for transitional justice in South Africa and Chile

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Research question

This study uses ‘transitional justice’ as theoretical instrument by means of which the role of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in South Africa in processes of societal change is analysed and compared with selected elements of the role played by the Roman Catholic Church in Chile (referred to as the Chilean Catholic Church, or CCC, throughout the study) during processes of societal change in Chile. The DRC is the focal point of the study, and transitional justice is the theoretical instrument by means of which the CCC is used to highlight significant elements of the role of the DRC.
The study commences with an exploration of transitional justice, and the subsequent formulation of a working definition of transitional justice to be employed as a lense through which the actions of the DRC and CCC are described during times of societal transition. This enables the researcher to delimit the study temporally in an academically responsible manner, and provides a theoretically sound way in which to identify the ways the DRC and CCC will be compared. This chapter is thus followed by an exploration of the role of the DRC in the apartheid regime and the CCC during the Chilean totalitarian system, with chosen foci the result of the particular theoretical contours of the concept transitional justice. After a detailed discussion the study continues by comparing and ultimately contrasting the roles played by the DRC and the CCC towards, during and at the demise of the totalitarian systems both churches encountered. This enables the integration of the data already provided and illustrates the particular dynamics of transitional justice in South Africa by comparing it with Chile. In the final chapter, contrasting practices identified with regard to the CCC are used as basis for identifying potential priorities for the DRC.
Through the lens of transitional justice, the role of the DRC in South Africa is explored in a comparative descriptive manner in order to understand why the church made specific choices, to further understand how the DRC amended the political policies it maintained.

Chapter 1: Research design
1. Research question
2. Research objectives
3. Research method
3.1 A descriptive approach to Christian ethics
3.2 Literature review
3.3 Comparative study
4. Research motivation
5. Motivation for choosing the CCC
5.1 Chile
5.2 The Roman Catholic Church in Chile
6. Limitations
7. Relevance
Chapter 2: A definition of transitional justice
1. Introduction
2. Exploring transitional justice
2.1 The judicial character
2.2 The non-judicial character
2.3 Setting parameters for a transitional justice process
2.4 Advantages of the transitional justice process
2.5 Disadvantages of the transitional justice process
3. Requirements of transitional justice
3.1 Context
3.2 Conflict
3.3 Transitional justice exercises
3.4 Qualitative requirements
3.5 Quantitative requirements
3.6 Limitations
4. Religion and transitional justice
4.1 Religion and society
4.2 The importance of understanding the role of religion in processes of transitional justice
4.3 Religious bodies and transitional justice
5. Towards a working definition of transitional justice
6. Concluding remarks
Chapter 3: Churches in unjust political systems: The need for transitional justice in South Africa and Chile
1. Introduction
2. The DRC and apartheid ideology
2.1 The early history of the DRC: 1652-1902
2.2 The DRC and the emerging apartheid ideology: 1824-1974
3. The development of apartheid ideology
3.1 Theological justification of apartheid
4. The DRC and the emerging apartheid state: 1905-1974
4.1 The Sendingbeleid [Mission Policy] of 1935
4.2 Significant church conferences
4.3 The DRC and apartheid legislation
5. The CCC and Chilean totalitarianism
5.1 Chilean church-state developments: 1860-1920
5.2 The uneasy coexistence of older and newer forms of Catholicism: 1935-1958
5.3 The CCC as moral tutor and institutional support for reform: 1958-1973
5.4 The CCC as surrogate for resistance to authoritarianism: 1973-1982
Chapter 4: Churches and opposition to unjust political systems: The demand for transitional justice in South Africa and Chile
1. Introduction
2. Criticism against the apartheid ideology
2.1 From Sharpeville to the Synod of Reconciliation
2.2 Criticism from South African societal actors
3. The DRC at the TRC
3.1 The creation of the TRC
3.2 The DRC’s submission
3.3 Limitations
4. The CCC and Chile’s transition to democracy
4.1 The CCC’s bishops
4.2 Responses from groupings in the CCC
4.3 The CCC at the NCT
5. Concluding remarks
Chapter 5: Churches and political change: The dynamics of transitional (in)justice in South Africa and Chile
1. Introduction
2. External dynamics
2.1 Church and state
2.2 Church organisational structures and relations with other churches
2.3 Church and legislation
2.4 Comparison
3. Internal dynamics
3.1 Church clergy, members and organisations
3.2 Asylum and expulsions in the church
3.3 Ecclesial life
3.4 Comparison
4. Official positions
4.1 Church policies and teachings
4.2 Church publications and archives
4.3 Church involvement in national truth and reconciliation commissions
4.4 A compariso
5. Demands of transitional justice
6. Concluding remarks
Chapter 6: The way forward: The continued need for enacting transitional justice in South Africa