Summary of Queen Isabella II's concordat (1851)
Queen Isabella II relied upon reactionary generals, conservative politicians and the Church. She was finally forced to abdicate in 1868, but her concordat lasted until 1931, when it was thrown out by a Republican government. Ten years later it was revived when Franco's 1941 Convention with the Vatican restored its first four articles.
Summary of the Spanish concordat of 1851
[Not implemented until 1855; and finally abrogated by the new constitution of the Second Republic in 1931]
By Gaston De Bourge[1]
Spain was governed by a concordat passed March 16, 1851, according to which the Roman Catholic apostolic religion shall continue, to the exclusion of every other, to be the only religion of the Spanish nation, and is to be maintained, so far as his Catholic majesty has the power, "in all the rights and prerogatives which it should enjoy according to the law of God and canonical sanction."[2] Education in all the colleges, universities. etc., must conform to the Catholic doctrine, and the bishops, "whose duty it is to watch over the education of youth in regard to morals and faith," shall meet no obstacle in the performance of that duty.
The bishops, and the clergy under them, shall enjoy the same rights in all else that regards their functions, especially in what concerns the sacred office of ordination. The government shall assure the respect due them, and lend its aid, "notably in preventing the publication, introduction or circulation of immoral and harmful books." That concordat changed the boundaries of dioceses[3], regulated the affairs of territories dependent on military orders, ecclesiastical jurisdiction, chapters, benefices. The right of presentation[4] to certain of the latter was reserved to the pope; others were left to the queen. Religious orders of men or women, who to contemplation add some work of charity or public utility, as education, care of the sick, missions, etc., are retained or re-established. An income is guaranteed to the bishops, the priests, the churches, and the seminaries.
The right of the church to own and acquire new property is recognized in its integrity. As to property of which it had been previously despoiled, whatever has not been alienated was to be restored; but whatever the state has taken may be sold, and the price invested in government bonds, for the benefit of the rightful owner. The Holy See renounces its right to property already alienated. With regard to unforeseen points, the concordat refers to the canons and the discipline of the church.
Notes
[1] Source: “Concordat”, by Gaston De Bourge [a French lawyer and critic of secularism], Dictionnaire de l’économie politique, 1852, translated and reprinted in Lalor, John J., ed, Cyclopædia of Political Science, Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States by the Best American and European Writers, (New York: Maynard, Merrill, and Co., 1899. First published: 1881. http://www.econlib.org/library/YPDBooks/Lalor/llCy263.html
[2] “Contrasted with the imperial or Caesarian law, canon law is sometimes styled pontifical law, often also it is termed sacred law, and sometimes even Divine law, as it concerns holy things, and has for its object the wellbeing of souls in the society divinely established by Jesus Christ.”
A. Boudinhon, “Canon law”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IX, 1910. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09056a.htm
[3] “The territorial adaptation of the Spanish dioceses to the civil provinces was regarded as a efficiency measure. This was due to the quick increase of the population from the 18th c., the too vast territories of some bishoprics and the necessity of eliminating absurd enclaves from the past.” From the abstract in English of the document Concordato de 1851 y reordenación del territorio eclesiástico en España: La diócesis de Cartagena by Maria José Vilar, 2004.
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16438601
