Catholicism in the Civic and Moral Education Textbooks During the Stroessner Government in Paraguay

Abstract

We analyze the confluence between the conception of morality and religion, present in two textbooks of the subject of Civic and Moral Education, intended for high school, produced and used in Paraguay, during Alfredo Stroessner's government (1954 to 1989), amidst the Paraguayan educational reforms of 1957 and 1973, guided by the Ministry of Education and Worship. We analyzed textbooks from the theoretical-methodological framework of content analysis and the history of school subjects, based on the history of Paraguayan education in the dictatorial period. We conclude, analyzing the textbooks on moral and civic education, that Catholic religion served as an argument to convince young people and teenagers to remain pacified, respect "God’s will" in terms of obedience to authority, thus contributing to maintain the organicity of the Paraguayan nation during the dictatorship.