Writer Mario Vargas Llosa Remembered: From Catholic Devotion to Defiant Agnosticism
(ANALYSIS) Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, 2010 Nobel Laureate in Literature, died in Lima on April 13. His critics and followers have spent the last few days and weeks analyzing the work and legacy of this renowned intellectual, politician, novelist and essayist — arguably one of the most important figures in contemporary world literature.
Vargas Llosa, often regarded as the last of the great writers from the Latin American “Boom of the 1960s,” also explored deeply personal themes in his work, offering insights into his inner world.
One of those themes was his relationship with faith and the Catholic religion, which he viewed very critically. In his memoir, “A Fish in the Water,” Vargas Llosa recounts experiences that ultimately led him to abandon religious practice.
“I was a devoutly religious child,” and “innocent as a lily,” he confessed. He even bought a Bible and regularly attended Mass.
But a traumatic event left a lasting impact on him: He was sexually abused by a priest named Leoncio at La Salle School in Lima, where he studied. According to his account, the priest lured him into a room under false pretenses, touched his private parts, then made further advances. Vargas Llosa wrote: “From that moment on, I gradually lost interest in religion and God. I still went to Mass, confessed, received communion, and even prayed … until one day I realized I no longer believed. I had become a non-believer. I didn’t dare tell anyone.”
That feeling grew stronger over time. He continued: “It wasn’t until 1950, when I entered the Leoncio Prado Military Academy, that I dared challenge those around me by blurting out: I don’t believe, I’m an atheist.”
That very experience at the military school inspired one of his most acclaimed works, “The Time of the Hero” in 1963, which won the Spanish Critics Award and marked a new style in Latin American fiction, launching the so-called “Latin American Boom” alongside writers like Colombian Gabriel García Márquez, Argentine Julio Cortázar and Mexican Carlos Fuentes.
In the first chapter of his memoirs, Vargas Llosa also reveals how his turbulent relationship with his father — defined by fear and resentment — left him with feelings of deep hatred.
“This terrified me, because to hate my own father had to be a mortal sin, for which God would punish me. I felt burdened by guilt — hating my father and wishing he would die so that my mother and I could go back to the life we had before. I went to confession full of shame for repeating the same sin over and over,” he wrote.
Religion also played a significant role during his brief stint in Peruvian politics. At one point, he had to clarify his religious beliefs to the Peruvian electorate when he ran for president in the 1990 general election, which he lost to then-unknown university professor Alberto Fujimori.
“When I began my political campaign, I explained in an interview that I was not a believer, nor an atheist, but an agnostic, and that I would not debate religion during the campaign,” Vargas Llosa wrote at the time. “I could not hide my agnostic views for electoral convenience.”
During that election, his opponent Alberto Fujimori received strong support from evangelical Christian groups — support that many analysts believe was decisive in Vargas Llosa’s defeat. In those Protestant circles, rumors spread that “Brother Fujimori” was some kind of “messenger of God,” sent to rescue the nation from the severe economic crisis it was facing after more than a decade of Maoist terrorism by the Shining Path and the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.
Vargas Llosa later reflected on how religion became a turning point in the election:
“None of us [in his political group] suspected back in late 1987 how important religion would become in that election, thanks to the successful mobilization of evangelical churches in support of Fujimori,” he wrote.
One of the rare occasions when he publicly clashed with Catholic Church leaders was during the debate over a bill to recognize civil unions for same-sex couples. The Nobel laureate supported the initiative, which was backed by LGBTQ+ groups, and criticized the Church’s institutional stance.
In response, the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, which represents the country’s bishops, accused the writer of “believing himself to be the guardian of other people’s consciences.” Vargas Llosa responded: “To believe that being heterosexual is normal and that homosexuals are ‘abnormal’ is a prejudiced belief, refuted by science and common sense, and one that only promotes discriminatory legislation in backward and uneducated countries.”
In sum, the Peruvian Nobel laureate was profoundly shaped by a traumatic relationship with his father and the sexual assault he suffered as a child at the hands of a Catholic priest — experiences that distanced him from faith. He was never able to discover the true Christian message of love, peace and reconciliation. One phrase he once said encapsulates his agnosticism: “Men insist on believing in God because they don’t trust themselves.”
You can read this piece in Spanish here.
Reynaldo Aragaon is a veteran journalist based in Lima, Peru. He is a board member at The Media Project.