Republican Communists desecrating the Sacred Heart
On
Sunday October 13, 2013, over five hundred Spanish martyrs were beatified. This beatification ceremony was controversial
since these were martyrs from the Spanish CivilWwar, and the Church was accused
of being sympathetic to the Spanish “fascist” dictator, Francisco Franco. According to The Guardian, “More than 100 support groups for victims of Franco’s
forces wrote an open letter to the pope last week, calling him to apologize for
the church’s role, which they said helped to legitimize ‘the military uprising
and the Franco dictatorship that claimed so many victims.’”[2] Who were these martyrs, and does their
beatification give support to the military uprising of General Franco and his
subsequent dictatorship?
In
1931 King Alphonso XIII abdicated. The
government formed after his abdication closed Catholic schools, expelled the
Jesuits, and removed all religious symbols off the walls of public buildings.[3] In 1936, the Popular Front, a coalition of socialists
and communists, took power and began to systematically eliminate the presence
of the Catholic Church.[4] Largo Caballero, the Spanish head of state, ordered
the murder of bishops, priests, and nuns.
Whole convents were massacred, bodies of religious and priests were
exhumed and defiled. By the time
Franco’s forces had seized control of Spain at least thirteen bishops, four
thousand priests and seminarians, two thousand five hundred religious and nuns,
and four thousand laymen had been martyred for the faith.[5] Besides the killings, thousands of churches
had been destroyed and religious articles desecrated.[6]
Largo
Caballero and the communists, also know as Republicans, had waged a war of extermination against the
Catholic Church. They almost succeeded in their plan to crush the Church in Spain. The greatest motive of those fighting the communists was to defend the Chuch. The Carlists for example, Franco’s strongest and largest
supporters, fought to defend the Church.
Regardless
of any problems that may or may not have existed in the course of Franco’s
rule, the cause for the military uprising was just. Spain’s culture was profoundly Catholic, and
the majority of the people were members of the Church. Democratic elections only served to increase
the power of the Communists, and in spite of petitions seeking an end to the
brutal attacks on the religious and the Church, the persecution only grew more
powerful. The military coup was an act
of self-defense.
Franco
was maligned by the western powers during the Second World War because he would
not join the Allies. He is also branded
with the label of fascism. There are
accusations of concentration camps and of a violent cleansing of the military
after he had secured control of Spain.[7] Many of the accusation may be fueled by those
who were sympathetic to the communists, but the picture of Franco nonetheless
remains confused. He saved Spain from
the communists, prevented the Nazi takeover of Gibraltar possibly ensuring
Hitler’s eventual defeat, restored the Church to its former place in Spanish
society, and rebuilt the Spanish economy.[8] However, in doing these things, he may have
also have been a coldhearted despot.
Regardless of how he ruled after the Spanish Civil War, the
beatification does not provide commentary on his rule.
These
beatified Spanish were martyred for their faith. They refused to abandon Christ and thus lost
their lives, gaining the eternal possession of the vision of God as their
reward. This is what is honored by the
beatification. The only commentary that
this ceremony gives regarding the political situation in Spain was that those
who martyred these Spaniards had done evil.
The just military uprising and the controversy surrounding Franco’s rule
have nothing to do with the declaration of beatification. The only judgment passed by the Church was
that these martyrs are blessed because they died for their faith and not
because of Franco.
[1] Image take from: Pat
McNamara Martyrs of the Spanish Civil
War. (Patheos, 2015) patheos.com
[2] Paul Hamilos. “Vatican
Beatifies over 500 “Martyrs of Faith’ Killed During the Spanish Civil War”. The Guardian (13 October, 2013)
theguardian.com
[3] Anne W. Carroll, Christ the King Lord of History. (Tan
Books and Publishers, Rockford. 1994) 424
[4] Carroll, Christ the King. 424
[5] Woldzimierz Redzioch, “The
Martyrs of Spain’s Civil War”. CatholicCulture.org.
(December 2007) catholicculture.org
[6] Redzioch, “The Martyrs”
[7] A+E Networks, “Francisco Franco” History (A+E Networks, 2015)
history.com
[8] Carroll Christ the King. 426, 427
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