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Notes for Franco's Concordat (1953)

1. The Spanish titles of these are: 
—  Convenio entre la Santa Sede y el Gobierno Español  acerca del modo de ejercicio del privilegio de presentación 7 junio 1941
—  Acuerdo sobre Provisión de Beneficios no Consistoriales (1946)
—  Acuerdo sobre Universidades y Seminarios Eclesiásticos (1946)
—  Motu proprio pontificio sobre Restablecimiento del Tribunal de la Rota española (1947)
—  Acuerdo sobre Jurisdicción Castrense y Asistencia Religiosa a las Fuerzas Armadas (1953)
—  Concordato con la Santa Sede 27 agosto 1953. Relaciones Estado e Iglesia.

2. This was the "Rota of the Apostolic Nunciature of Spain" a Church court ot try ecclesiastical casses in accordance with canon law and with 59 articles issued  by Pius XII to govern its activites. 
L'Osservatore Romano, 14 May 1947.
http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/juristcu7&div=34&id=&page=

3. U.S. Library of Congress. Country Studies, Spain, "Foreign Policy under Franco", 1988.

4. Fr. Brian W. Harrison, O.S., "Vatican II and Religious Liberty: Contradiction or Continuity?", 2000. http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Dossier/00MarApr/continuity.html

5. "One Century's Saint . . .", Time, 25 August 1952.. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,816811,00.html

Last week Cardinal Segura again expressed annoyance at Generalissimo Francisco Franco's government for allowing limited religious toleration of non-Catholics. In a pastoral letter, he took issue with the "bill of rights" which the Spanish government enacted in 1945. This recognizes Roman Catholicism as Spain's official religion, but allows non-Catholics to practice their faith in private.

Cardinal Segura fears that Protestants might take advantage of loopholes in the bill of rights to proselytize for their religion; such activity is not expressly forbidden. He would like Spain's government to reaffirm the 1851 concordat—abrogated in 1931 by the Spanish Republic—which pledges the state to assist the Catholic bishops, "especially when they are compelled to oppose the wickedness of men who are attempting to pervert the souls of the faithful and to corrupt their morals . . ." This, by Cardinal Segura's definition, would include any airing of Protestant ideas or any Protestant worship for Spaniards. (Protestantism has shown slight gains recently, partly because some members of the opposition have chosen this means of registering a reaction against both the government and the established church.) Wrote the cardinal: "It causes one real pain to see the tolerance shown toward non-Catholic sects among us and the indifference of the Catholics toward this question."

6. Louis Nevin, "Cardinal Segura disturbs Vatican", Lewiston Evening Journal, 16 April 1955. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19550416&id=VdRKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lPMMAAAAIBAJ&pg=861,4650242

...He took the government to task from time to time for not adopting a tougher stand against Protestants. He said there were four Protestant chapels in Sevilla. All were in private houses, and not permitted to show they were places of worship. The civil authorities permitted them to exist because they conformed to the Spanish bill of rights. Often, after the prelate assailed the existence of the chapels, Catholic youths raided them.

 


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