TheCité Catholique is aTraditionalist Catholic organisation created in 1946 byJean Ousset, originally a follower ofCharles Maurras (founder of themonarchistAction Française in 1899) and Jean Masson (1910–1965), not to be confused (as F. Venner did) withJacques Desoubrie, who also used the pseudonym Jean Masson.[1] Despite the presence ofRoman Catholic clergy in some of its meetings, theCité catholique is not officially recognised by the Roman Catholic Church.[1]
It first took the name ofŒuvres de la Cité Catholique (Works of the Catholic City) and then ofOffice international des œuvres de formation civique et d'action culturelle selon le droit naturel et chrétien (ICTUS, International Office of Works of Civic Formation and Cultural Action According to Natural Christian Law) before being known under the nameCité Catholique.[2] It is now presided byJacques Trémollet de Villers, a former associate of the far-right politicianJean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour and formerdefence attorney for accusedwar criminalPaul Touvier.[2] The Cité catholique also helped found in 1971 thepro-life NGOLaissez-les-vivre.[2]Jean-Paul Bolufer, a former alumnus of theENA and who was the chief of staff ofChristine Boutin,Minister of Housing and the City, before being forced to resign, and close to theOpus Dei, was trained byCité catholique.[2][3][4]
An advance party of the Cité catholique arrived in Argentina in 1958, in the middle of theAlgerian War (1954–62) and after themilitary deposedJuan Perón in 1955.[5] The Cité Catholique brought to Argentina a doctrine ofcounter-revolutionary warfare and repression against terrorism, justified as part ofThomist.[citation needed] They would thus provide theideological support of the future "Dirty War" carried out by theArgentine military in the 1970s.[5]
Many members of the group had taken part in the pro-"French Algeria"OAS terrorist group created in Madrid, which attempted to block the implementation of the March 1962Évian Accords and also tried several times to assassinate GeneralCharles de Gaulle, whom the French far-right felt had deceived them.[5] Following the dismantlement of the OAS and execution of some of its members, the OASchaplain, Fr.Georges Grasset, organised the flight of OAS members, from a route going from Paris toFranquist Spain and finally to Argentina.[5] Grasset arrived in 1962 in Buenos Aires to take charge of the Argentine branch of the Cité Catholique.[5]
Charles Lacheroy, a member of this group, was the first person to reflect on the reasons behind the1954 French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, which all but put an end to theIndochina War (1946–54).Roger Trinquier, who theorised the systemic use of torture in counter-insurgency inModern Warfare: A French View of Counterinsurgency (1961), was also a member of this organisation.[5]
Along with ColonelJean Gardes [fr], chief French expert inpsychological warfare, Jean Ousset developed the concept of "subversion".[5] According to Argentine journalistHoracio Verbitsky, "this conceived a protean, quintessential enemy who, rather than being defined by his actions, was seen as a force trying to subvert Christian order,natural law or the Creator's plan." According to Ousset, "the revolutionary apparatus is ideological before it is political, and political before it is military.[5]"
InLe Marxisme-Léninisme, Jean Ousset wrote that Marxists could be combatted only by "a profound faith, an unlimited obedience to theHoly Father, and a thorough knowledge of the Church's doctrines."[5] The first translated version of this book was in Spanish, published in Argentina in 1961 and for whichAntonio Caggiano, Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1959 to 1965, wrote a prologue, where he thanked the "men ofLa Ciudad Católica of Argentina."[5] In this prologue, Caggiano explained that Marxism was born of "the negation of Christ and his Church put into practice by theRevolution" and spoke of a Marxist conspiracy to take over the world, for which it was necessary to "prepare for the decisive battle," although the enemy had not yet "taken up arms."[5] The Argentine journalistHoracio Verbitsky commented this: "As often happens in a continent that imports ideas, the doctrine of annihilation preceded that of the revolutionary uprising." Caggiano compared this vigilance to the one that preceded the 1571Battle of Lepanto "to save Europe from domination by the Turks."[5] Ousset's book also included a list of thepapal bulls condemning communism.
Colonel Jean Gardes arrived in Argentina in 1963.[5] Her daughter showed in 2003 to French journalistMarie-Monique Robin notes from her father, which show that in March 1963, a naval lieutenant commander,Federico Lucas Roussillon, offered Gardes Argentine government protection if he would deliver counter-insurgency courses at theESMA, the Navy Mechanic Schools.[6] In 1955, then Lieutenant Roussillon took part in theRevolución Libertadora, the Catholic nationalist movement led byEduardo Lonardi which overthrewJuan Domingo Perón. Major Juan Francisco Guevara, one of Lonardi's general staff, proposed that the conspirational password be "God is Just." Roussillon became in 1963 a member of theNaval intelligence service, and retired in 1979 with the rank of captain. Soon after Gardes met Roussillon, the Cadets at the ESMA were shown the filmThe Battle of Algiers, which described one of the first counter-insurgency battles, during which GeneralMarcel Bigeard andJacques Massu made a systemic use oftorture, theblock warden system, anddeath flights (dubbed "Crevettes Bigeard", or "Bigeard's Shrimps").[6]
