6 SPAIN TALKS

LA PASSIONARIA (vehemently): No. they simply wouldn't understand.

SICHES: You know when Spanish Jesuits go‘ to Belgium, they are afraid of the tolerance of the Belgian Jesuits.

People's Front and the Church

DR. WARD: What attitude did the People's Front take to the church.’

LARA: I can show you there was no persecution in law. When the Republic was successful in 1931, it separated the church from the state, as all democracies do. It also began to dissolve the Jesuit order and a cry arose that this was persecution. But as long ago as 1851, a Concordat was reached between the King of Spain and the Pope whereby the religious orders which might legally exist in Spain were limited to three. Due to the opposi- tion of the religious orders, which wished to protect their wealth and power, this Concordat was never carried out till the Republic came. But the Republic only put into force the measure which

the King of Spain already found necessary for the good of the state in 1851.

As for the People's Front Government, it wished no ‘quarrel

with the church but re-appointed the Spanish ambassador to the Vatican, who is there even today.

MR. MacLEOD: The Hearst press and The Daily Mail in England

carry daily stories about alleged attacks on churches, on priests and nuns. What has the delegation to say?

A long discussion by all delegates was summed up by

DOMINGO: First, that in many churches there were found de- posits of arms, in a number of cases churches were used as machine gun nests, in some instances firing on the people peace- fully passing by. This led to the destruction of many churches. since they were strategic posts in the cities.

Second, the opinion of the Spanish people is that the govern- ment has been if anything too lenient with the church all these years, and has not properly pushed the reforms which were much needed. When. after such leniency, the church took advantage of it to attack the government, legally elected by the people, there was an explosion of public anger against churches and priests.

DR. WARD: It would be useful if someone here would give a'con- crete example he has personally seen.

At this everyone began to speak, and it seemed there was a wealth of personal experiences. Finally they were taken in turn: