Church and State in Spain: Transition Toward Independence and Liberty

Abstract

mounting tensions during the last years of the Franco government, have led to efforts by the Spanish Catholic Church to alter the Concordat that has existed since 1953. Negotiations over the agreement, which began in 1969, bogged down completely in the last two years of Franco's rule; but with the death of Franco (November 20, 1975) and with the inauguration of Juan Carlos as the new head of the Spanish state, serious conversations over the Concordat resumed and a partial but important revision was agreed to.1 In place of the close union and mutual recognition that existed between church and state, independence and freedom of action are being sought by most of the hierarchy and by a large number of the younger generation of priests. Since 1965, the accord has been particularly strained; now all special privileges of the Catholic Church and all special powers over it by the Spanish state are being questioned. The tensions between church and state that manifested themselves in the last decade of Franco's regime were but one sign that it had not effectively resolved its major problems. There is a widespread agreement in the literature in classifying the Franco regime as authoritarian, and, therefore, as differing from both the democratic and the totalitarian types, as these are usually defined.2 One of the elements of the limited, pluralistic character of Franco's authoritarian regime is the considerable set of powers and social functions assigned to the Catholic Church. A series of agreements, culminating in the Concordat, gave public and juridical recognition to the Church's role in the regime. As will be detailed below, there were mutual