The Defense of Religious Freedom in the Catholic Magazine Vida Nueva during a Catholic Confessional Dictatorship

Abstract

After the Second Vatican Council ended in 1965, and during a National Catholic dictatorship in Spain, the religious magazine Vida Nueva tried to support the principles of religious freedom promoted by the conciliar assembly. This study focuses on the promotion of liberties during a regime in which political power was not separated from religious power. The study conducts a quantitative and qualitative content analysis to explore the editorials published by the Vida Nueva weekly between 1968 and 1975. The results show the impact of the Second Vatican Council on the editorial approach of a journal constrained by Franco’s Regime. I show that the weekly reflected the thinking of a significant number of Spanish Catholic readers; it was deeply democratic and promoted the freedom of religion, press, political thought, and association. Consequently, Vida Nueva opposed the repression of the Regime and aimed for a separation of powers between Church and State, mainly so that the Church could preach and promote its social thought in public life.