a large part of the truth [about the dictatorship] to his grave, mainly about the desaparecidos, the kidnapping of children and the complicity of the ecclesiastic hierarchy with the dictatorship, with the goal of dismembering or weakening the Third World movements of the Second Vatican Council". Martínez further said that Primatesta "was useful" to the military, and that he had "named people" for them. During the 1990s, Cardinal Primatesta was a strong critic of the neoliberal policies of President Carlos Menem (1989–1999), whom he charged with leaving behind a massive amount of poverty. While in charge of the Social Pastoral Commission he asked for a "social agreement" to overcome the economic crisis of Argentina, and organized discussion meetings for union leaders, businessmen and government representatives. Primatesta mediated also on many social conflicts, including cases where unemployed families took the Cathedral of Córdoba. On a different note, the Cardinal defended the position of the Church on contraception to the point of denouncing Córdoba Governor Ramón Mestre at the top of his voice for a provincial health program that included handing out condoms near the seat of the Archbishopric. References La Nación, 1 May 2006. Murió el Cardenal Primatesta. Clarín, 1 May 2006. Murió el cardenal Raúl Primatesta. Página/12, 2 May 2006. Emblema de la Iglesia prodictadura. Diario de Cuyo, 2 May 2006. El adiós para un cura polémico Catholic-Hierarchy.org Raúl Primatesta - Capilla del Señor (Spanish). 1919 births 2006 deaths People from Buenos Aires Province Argentine people of Italian descent Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Argentine cardinals 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Argentina Participants in the Second Vatican Council Cardinals created by Pope Paul VI Roman Catholic archbishops of Córdoba Roman Catholic bishops of La Plata in Argentina Roman Catholic bishops of San Rafael