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Spain Roman Catholic Church
Church and state have been closely linked in Spain for
centuries. With the reinstitution of the Inquisition in
Spain in
the fifteenth century, the state employed draconian
measures to
enforce religious unity in an effort to ensure political
unity.
Strong measures to separate church and state were enacted
under
the short-lived Second Republic, but they were nullified
by the
victorious Nationalists. In the early years of the Franco
regime,
church and state had a close and mutually beneficial
association.
The loyalty of the Roman Catholic Church to the Francoist
state
lent legitimacy to the dictatorship, which in turn
restored and
enhanced the church's traditional privileges
(see The Franco Years
, ch. 1).
After the Second Vatican Council in 1965 set forth the
church's stand on human rights, the church in Spain moved
from a
position of unswerving support for Franco's rule to one of
guarded criticism. During the final years of the
dictatorship,
the church withdrew its support from the regime and became
one of
its harshest critics. This evolution in the church's
position
divided Spanish Catholics. Within the institution,
right-wing
sentiment, opposed to any form of democratic change, was
typified
by the Brotherhood of Spanish Priests, the members of
which
published vitriolic attacks on church reformers.
Opposition took
a more violent form in such groups as the rightist
Catholic
terrorist organization known as the Warriors of Christ the
King,
which assaulted progressive priests and their churches.
Whereas this reactionary faction was vociferous in its
resistance to any change within the church, other Spanish
Catholics were frustrated at the slow pace of reform in
the
church and in society, and they became involved in various
leftist organizations. In between these extreme positions,
a
small, but influential, group of Catholics--who had been
involved
in lay Catholic organizations such as Catholic
Action--favored
liberalization in both the church and the regime, but they
did
not enter the opposition forces. They formed a study group
called
Tacito, which urged a gradual transition to a democratic
monarchy. The group's members published articles
advocating a
Christian democratic Spain.
The church continued to be in opposition to the Franco
regime
throughout the dictatorship's final years. The Joint
Assembly of
Bishops and Priests held in 1971 marked a significant
phase in
the distancing of the church from the Spanish state. This
group
affirmed the progressive spirit of the Second Vatican
Council and
adopted a resolution asking the pardon of the Spanish
people for
the hierarchy's partisanship in the Civil War.
At the Episcopal Conference convened in 1973, the
bishops
demanded the separation of church and state, and they
called for
a revision of the 1953 Concordat. Subsequent negotiations
for
such a revision broke down because Franco refused to
relinquish
the power to veto Vatican appointments. Until his death,
Franco
never understood the opposition of the church. No other
Spanish
ruler had enacted measures so favorable to the church as
Franco,
and he complained bitterly about what he considered to be
its
ingratitude.
Because the church had already begun its transformation
into
a modern institution a decade before the advent of
democracy to
Spain, it was able to assume an influential role during
the
transition period that followed Franco's death.
Furthermore,
although disagreements over church-state relations and
over
political issues of particular interest to the Roman
Catholic
Church remained, these questions could be dealt with in a
less
adversarial manner under the more liberal atmosphere of
the
constitutional monarchy.
A revision of the Concordat was approved in July 1976
by the
newly formed Suarez government. Negotiations soon followed
that
resulted in bilateral agreements, delineating the
relationship
between the Vatican and the new democratic state
(see Religion
, ch. 2). The 1978 Constitution confirms the separation of
church
and state while recognizing the role of the Roman Catholic
faith
in Spanish society
(see The 1978 Constitution
, this ch.).
Within this basic framework for the new relationship
between
the church and the government, divisive issues remained to
be
resolved in the late 1980s. The church traditionally had
exercised considerable influence in the area of education,
and it
joined conservative opposition parties in mounting a
vigorous
protest against the education reforms that impinged on its
control of the schools
(see Political Developments, 1982-88
, this
ch.). Even more acrimonious debate ensued over the
emotionally
charged issues of divorce and abortion. The church
mobilized its
considerable influence in support of a powerful lobbying
effort
against proposed legislation that was contrary to Roman
Catholic
doctrine governing these subjects. The passage of a law in
1981
legalizing civil divorce struck a telling blow against the
influence of the church in Spanish society. A law
legalizing
abortion under certain circumstances was passed in August
1985
and further liberalized in November 1986, over the fierce
opposition of the church.
Another manifestation of the redefined role of the
church was
contained in measures aimed at reducing, and ultimately
eliminating, direct government subsidies to the church. As
part
of the agreements reached in 1979, the church concurred
with
plans for its financial independence, to be achieved
during a
rather lengthy transitional period. At the end of 1987,
the
government announced that, after a three-year trial
period, the
church would receive no further direct state aid but would
be
dependent on what citizens chose to provide, either
through
donations or by designating a portion of their income tax
for the
church. Although the church's exempt status constituted an
indirect subsidy, the effect of this new financial status
on the
church's ability to wield political influence remained to
be
seen.
Although church-state relations involved potentially
polarizing issues, the church played a basically
cooperative and
supportive role in the emergence of plural democracy in
Spain.
Although it no longer had a privileged position in
society, its
very independence from politics and its visibility made it
an
influential force.
Data as of December 1988
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