Catholic Renewal in the Late Franco Period
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ABSTRACT CURSILLOS DE CRISTIANDAD IN SEVILLA: CATHOLIC RENEWAL IN THE LATE FRANCO PERIOD In the 1960s, the Catholic Church in Spain was undergoing massive changes and was struggling to adapt. In that decade the oppressive Franco regime weakened in the face of failed economic reforms and as the Second Vatican Council ushered in monumental reforms of church identity, practice, and policy. A new generation of Spaniards, including Catholics, challenged the regime and its policy of National Catholicism, which had sought to impose a uniform national and Catholic identity upon Spain. It ultimately failed to erase the long-standing differences in regional religious practices throughout Spain. This study seeks to explain how one movement in the 1960s, Cursillos de Cristiandad, embraced local traditions in Sevilla of Andalusia in southern Spain and the reforms of Vatican II to foster a religious experience in which ordinary Catholics gained agency in expressing their religious identity independent from National Catholicism. Using publications of Catholic Action and Cursillos, local newspapers, government cultural archives, and personal interviews, I argue that through the Cursillos movement laypersons found an authentic religious experience and community in which they actively defined their own religious identity as Catholic Andalusians. Melody Diane Downie-Dack May 2016 CURSILLOS DE CRISTIANDAD IN SEVILLA: CATHOLIC RENEWAL IN THE LATE FRANCO PERIOD by Melody Diane Downie-Dack A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History in the College of Social Sciences California State University, Fresno May 2016 APPROVED For the Department of History: We, the undersigned, certify that the thesis of the following student meets the required standards of scholarship, format, and style of the university and the student's graduate degree program for the awarding of the master's degree. Melody Diane Downie-Dack Thesis Author William Skuban (Chair) History Michelle Denbeste History Melissa Jordine History For the University Graduate Committee: Dean, Division of Graduate Studies AUTHORIZATION FOR REPRODUCTION OF MASTER’S THESIS X I grant permission for the reproduction of this thesis in part or in its entirety without further authorization from me, on the condition that the person or agency requesting reproduction absorbs the cost and provides proper acknowledgment of authorship. Permission to reproduce this thesis in part or in its entirety must be obtained from me. Signature of thesis author: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my thesis committee for their support in this endeavor: my advisor, Dr. William Skuban, and my readers Dr. Michelle Denbeste and Dr. Melissa Jordine. My colleague Ali Halesy provided insight and feedback in the early stages. I appreciated the research and writing advice from Dr. Daniel Cady and Dr. Bradley Jones, the director of the Master of Arts in History program at California State University Fresno. My husband, David, was a priceless editor, encouragement, and research companion throughout the entire process. I would also like to thank our parents for providing support, particularly childcare, to allow me to study, research, and write. I would like to dedicate this thesis especially to my late father, Dr. Robert Lawrence Downie, who inspired a deep love of history in me. Finally, the assistance of a number of individuals has been essential in the carrying out of this research. One of the historians cited in this thesis is Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez, Spanish-born professor of history at Trent University in Ontario, Canada. His assistance in identifying the important archives of Catholic Action and the governmental cultural archives was foundational to my research. In Spain, the personnel at the National Secretariats of Catholic Action and Cursillos de Cristiandad were particularly accommodating, and the President of the Sevilla chapter of Cursillos, Fernando Parra Martin, provided extensive resources, interviews, and access to local records and facilities. I want to thank Mr. Parra Martin and those Cursillos participants who graciously let me interview them during a brief research trip to Spain in 2014: Ignacio Montaño, Rafaela Martín Romero, and Consuelo Ramos Cervera. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 The Historiographical Landscape ..................................................................... 6 Organization .................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 1: THE FRANCO REGIME & CHURCH-STATE RELATIONSHIP ........................................................................................ 18 The Second Republic, 1931-1936 ................................................................... 18 The Spanish Civil War, 1936-39 ..................................................................... 21 The Franco Regime and National Catholicism, 1939-1975 ........................... 23 Catholic Action ............................................................................................... 25 Cursillos de Cristiandad ................................................................................. 29 Economic Crisis for Franco Regime ............................................................... 32 The Second Vatican Council, 1962-65 ........................................................... 34 CHAPTER 2: THE SPANISH CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CRISIS: COUNCIL, CATHOLIC ACTION & CURSILLOS ................................... 37 Reforms of the Second Vatican Council ......................................................... 38 Vatican II Divides Spanish Church ................................................................. 40 Conflict Among Spanish Youth Over National Catholicism .......................... 45 Crisis of Catholic Action, 1966-68 ................................................................. 47 Independence and Growth of Cursillos de Cristiandad ................................. 51 Controversy for Cursillos ................................................................................ 54 CHAPTER 3: CURSILLOS IN SEVILLA, ANDALUSIA ................................... 59 Success for Cursillos in Sevilla ...................................................................... 60 Church Hierarchy in Sevilla Support Cursillos .............................................. 61 Historical and Cultural Context of Sevilla ...................................................... 65 vi vi Page Diversity of Cursillos de Cristiandad ............................................................. 71 Adaptability of Cursillos ................................................................................. 76 Cursillos and Gender ....................................................................................... 77 Leadership Development of Laity ................................................................... 82 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 86 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................. 92 INTRODUCTION In 1966, in a quiet suburb of Sevilla, Spain, a local journalist admired a towering “Monument of Faith” resting on the hill that overlooks the center of San Juan Aznalfarache.1 Among the prominent features of this religious complex dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was the more recent addition of La Casa de Cursillos, a place for spiritual retreats, largely directed by laity, and dedicated to vigorous prayer and theological study. Even into the early morning hours, the Casa, or house, resounded with the voices of young men joining together in study, in prayer, in sacrament, and in song in order “to live the Mystical Body of Christ.”2 One could hear the folk tune “De Colores” carry into the streets with the lyrics, “joyfully we will bring to our Savior a harvest of souls.”3 As in other areas throughout Andalusia, Southern Spain, this Casa had been built as part of a charismatic lay leadership movement to revive Spanish Catholicism at a time when the Church was struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing world. This movement, Cursillos de Cristiandad invited ordinary Catholics to express their spirituality creatively despite the fascist regime of Francisco Franco that sought to impose one nationalist version of the Catholic faith upon the nation. Francisco Franco came to power when his Nationalist Army defeated and overthrew the army of the Second Republic in the bloody Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Prior to the Civil War, the leaders of the Second Republic (1931-1939) 1 Benigno Gonzalez, “Un Monumento de Fe.” ABC Sevilla. October 29,1966, accessed March 20, 2013, http://hemeroteca.abcdesevilla.es/results.stm. 2 Hervás, Juan. Cursillos in Christianity: Instrument of Christian Renewal. 2nd ed. trans. William Young, S.J. (Madrid: Ultreya, 1967), 60. 3 “What is the origin of De Colores?” French-speaking Cursillo Movement of Canada, February 23, 2012, accessed February 8, 2016, http://cursillos.ca/en/faq/f12-decolores.htm. 2 2 had instituted a secular state, and the Catholic Church experienced intense persecution. In contrast, Franco’s nationalist vision included restoring the Church to the privileged position it had enjoyed for much of its history. Once in power, Franco sought to impose what came to be called National Catholicism, which intertwined