Collective Letter of the Spanish Bishops, 1937

Collective letter of the Spanish Bishops, 1937 was a pastoral letter of the Spanish bishops which justified Franco's uprising that had precipitated the Spanish Civil War. Franco who was presenting himself to world opinion as the defender of the Church, was greatly displeased at criticism levelled against him by some european catholics, who condemned both the murders of priests in the republican zone and those of workers and peasants in the other zone. Nearly all the spansh bishops had spoken publicly in favour of the insurrection but this was insufficient for Franco.On 10 May 1937, Franco had asked Goma to promulgate "a text, addressed to bishops the world over with a request that it be published by the Catholic press everywhere, which would set out truth clearly and in proper perspective" (from a letter, Goma to Eugenio Pacelli, 12 May 1937). Goma immediately set to work on the propagandistic statement aimed at international Catholic opinion. The letter carried the date 1 July 1937 but was not made available to a wide public until August because time was wanted both to obtain the signatures of a small number of bishops who witheld their assent to the letter, and also to ensure that bishops all over the world, to whom the letter was addressed, received it before the press revealed its contents.

The letter was edited by Isidro Goma y Tomas with some alterations by Enrique Pla y Deniel, Bishop of Salamanca, and additions from Eijo Garay, Bishop of Madrid-Alcala. The letter calls the Civil War an "armed plebiscite" - and its description of the killings of priest and nuns " was to have the strongest impact upon the recipients" - Goma gave enthusiastic support to Franco - though he warns against the danger of Nazi influence " but the effect on the state of a foreign ideology which tends to draw us away from christian ideas and influencs, will create enormous problems when grafting a new Spain"

Forty-three bishops and five chapterhouse vicars signed the letter. Five bishops did not sign the letter - though they are not equally significant.

• Francisco Vidal y Barraquer teh cardinal Archbishop of Tarragona, , the most significant non-signer, was in exile in Italy in 1937 - and was never allowed to return to Spain. In January 1939 Franco's ambassador to the Holy See informed the Cardinal of Tarragona he would not be allowed to return to his diocese - the principal accustaion against him was that he had not signed the Collective Letter. Vidal believed in the fratricidal war the Church must not identify itself with either of the two sides but work hard for pacification.
• Torres Ribas, the Bishop of Menorca, very old, half blind, and out of contact in the island under Republican dominion
• Cardinal Segura, in Rome, -Goma assuredly did not request his signature since he was the resigned Archbishop of Toledo.
• Javier de Irastorza Loinaz, Bishop of Orihuela-Alicante - had been ordered to reside outside his diocese since 1935,
• Mateo Mugica Urrestarazu - the Bishop of Vitoria - disteressed by the number of the priests that the Nationalists had shot, could not sign a document which commended the manner in which Francoist repression operated.
• a sixth bishop, Justino Guitart Vilardebo, Bishop of Urgel nearly did not sign. Goma insisted "in terms that were unmistakably menacing" ; [Mugica and Vidal] both have special motives for holding back..The unanimity of the [other] brothers is guarantee enough that we are not going down the wrong road.. " guitart rejected this and similar threats from Goma. He fivnally agrred , (ac. to Miquel Batllori, editor of the Archivo Vidal i barraquer] because Vidal agreed he should do so - the two were close friends

Alvarez Bolado , quoted in raguer ; four limitations of the letter ; 1:the trivialization of the social conflict - Goma too easily absolves the Spanish Church of the accusation that, in common with the rich, it forgot the poor. that electorally the Church had identified itself with the right, which oposed social reform, and , when it won the elections in 1933, repealed the best of the moderate changes that had been brought in 1931-1933. 2: the simplification of the Basque problem. 3: - an absence of a democratic sensibility in politics. it was too simplistic to categorize the republican side as communists, while the praise bestoewed on the Franco side , revealed Goma's ties with the ultra-rightist group Accion Espanola 4:insufficiency and concealment of infornmation concerning repression in the nationalist zone - "the gravest defct of the document" (raguer).

External links

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