The Dual Role of the Church

Catholicism played a dual role in the Spanish struggle.They not only allowed Franco to portray himself as a crusader on the side of religion and morality, but they also failed to use their influence to stop the barbarous practices of Franco and his men.Franco’s apparent devotion to the ideals of the Church gained him the unending support of most of the clergy throughout Europe.In July of 1936, after the second rash of Church burnings in three years, most of the clergy of Spain signed a collective letter approving the Nationalist cause. They allowed him to paint himself as a modern crusader, fighting the devils of atheism and upholding the ideals of order, piety, and martyrdom that they had always based their doctrine on.

Few bishops opposed the new regime, mostly those of the Basque lands.The Bishop of Vitoria, before he was killed, complained to the Vatican about the lack of religious freedom in Spain and the mass executions without trial.But most bishops of Spain were on Franco’s side, including a Cardinal Goma, who censured Vitoria and the other Basque priests for “ignoring the voice of the Church.”

Franco began to seek approval for his regime long before the seize of Madrid.Although he maintained to the rest of the world that there would be religious freedom under his rule, he campaigned for Catholic legitimacy on the opposite basis.After he was officially recognized by the Vatican in August of 1937, he began to make concessions to the Church to keep their support.In 1937 he ordered all Protestant schools closed, and disallowed all public worship that was not Roman Catholic, as well as his refusal to recognize Jews as a part of his country.

After Franco gained power he proceeded to eliminate everyone who disagreed with the ideal he put forth.All Communists and atheists were enemies of the state, and needed to be dealt with.This led to a spree of random massacres by his soldiers.The Catholic Church, to their credit, did protest this practice.After the Church’s protest, Franco ordered his soldiers not to shoot any man without cause, and quickly instituted a system of trials that convicted and executed men and women as quickly as they could.This system of “fair trials” served as a buffer to the Church and also to the Allied nations, who were helping Franco keep the country from destitution in hopes of keeping him off the side of the Axis.

Any accusation of religious non-conformity, including lack of church attendance before the civil war became grounds for immediate execution, and after being guaranteed his position of dictator for his entire life, he made Catholicism the official religion of Spain.