Living In The Past

The beatification of Roman Catholic clergy killed by the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War has raised unpleasant memories and no little controversy. One might ask quite why the Vatican has chosen to potentially open old wounds.

The Spanish Civil War and indeed its aftermath (Franco’s rule) are not things you hear widely discussed here. The Spanish have been accused of an amnesia in respect of the war. One can sympathise up to a point: the atrocities of both the Republicans and the Nationalists are hardly subjects many wish to ponder over a coffee at a sea-front café.

The church suffered enormously at the hands of the Republicans. Thousands of priests were slaughtered and churches were burned down. The ultimate victory of the Nationalists saw also a reaffirmation of traditional Catholic values; the church and Francoism stood side by side.

Speak to locals who are willing to remember, and there is frequently a dichotomy between distancing themselves from Franco and the importance that the church still has in contemporary society. The Vatican, though reasonably enough saying that the beatification is an act of reconciliation, risks dredging up the old association of church and dictator that many would rather forget. It also risks polarising opinion by honouring the dead of just one side.

This comes at a time when the Spanish parliament is due to pass legislation which will not only acknowledge the victims of the Civil War but also require the church to change any pro-Franco monuments.

However much many Spaniards may prefer to remain amnesic, they are having their memories stimulated. Some may not like it, but to be able to confront the past in a reconciliatory fashion (to borrow from the Vatican) is a sign, or should be, of the country’s maturity. It was 70 years ago, after all.

(Source for some of this from the BBC website.)


On a lighter note, the grim weather that the British half-termers have had to contend with has finally given way to some sun. It is remarkable that one forgets, so quickly, how hot the sun is (even at the end of October). Problem is there has been so little sign of it for days. So as the season pulls up its duvet for winter hibernation, maybe a belated burst of late “summer”.


QUIZ
Yesterday - The Decemberists. Today’s title - well,yesterday’s was tough, so this is dead easy.

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