4. The Death of a Dictator: The Church in Self-Preservation Mode¶
Core Argument¶
As Franco’s regime entered its terminal phase, the Spanish Church’s long-cultivated alliance with the dictatorship became a profound liability, exposing the hollowness of its supposed absolute power. Two churches had emerged: a reactionary hierarchy that defended the wealthy, and a progressive lower clergy that increasingly sided with the industrial working class. The Second Vatican Council and Pope John XXIII’s 1963 encyclical Pacem in terris, with their emphasis on human rights, scandalised conservative elements while empowering radical priests. Yet it was Spain’s growing strike wave and the spread of socialist ideas that drove the deepest rifts. Lay organisations such as JOC and HOAC, established to reach workers, became radicalised, often functioning as unofficial unions. Worker priests, transformed by first-hand experience of exploitation, became curas rojos—red priests—involved in illegal activities.
The hierarchy, sensing inevitable regime change, engaged in cynical realpolitik. In 1971, a joint assembly of bishops and priests publicly apologised for the Church’s role during and after the Civil War, and by 1973 called for fundamental rights and reconciliation. Church buildings were made available for clandestine left-wing meetings. This strategic distancing was a survival manoeuvre, though many grassroots priests genuinely supported workers’ struggles. A Cuban Jesuit named Armentia became a reference point for workers in the Bandas. The Church organised talks on social problems to win workers, but the workers felt manipulated. After one talk, police banned a second, claiming the bishop knew. When Imanol confronted the bishop, the prelate confirmed he had been informed by the police. A group of eighteen priests drafted a statement against the police; Imanol insisted the word ‘bishop’ be added. He was suspended a divinis, forbidden from practising. The attempt to reorganise the Church no longer interested them; they broke with it. Thirty-seven priests were jailed in Zamora; others were fined or exiled. About fifteen comrades left everything, cutting communication and ending their membership of the Church.
In early December, the king decreed a highly limited amnesty, freeing barely one hundred political prisoners—including CCOO leaders jailed during the ‘1,001 Court Process’—while over 2,000 remained in prison. Despite the reforms’ narrow scope, they spurred workers onto the offensive. Throughout December, a wave of mobilisations demanded full amnesty for all political prisoners, with the cry “Amnistía y Libertad!” echoing on the streets.