The Spanish Catholic Church in comparative perspective. Political confrontation between the church and the socialist government at the beginning of the 21th Century

Abstract

The Spanish Catholic church (SCC) conforms a multi-issue interest group with a heterogeneous political record: unlike finance and education, two key areas which are covered by the 1979 Agreements with the Vatican, moral policies need not be negotiated with public authorities. Responding to the liberalization of abortion and approval of same-sex marriage by the Zapatero government, the SCC, in contrast with other churches under similar political circumstances, has embarked upon a confrontation strategy in alliance with conservative Catholic groups and like-minded political parties. Its monopoly position in a society that still defines itself as predominantly Catholic (sociological argument), the inextricable link between Catholicism and national identity (historical argument) and its privileged relationship with the state, as a result of the 1979 Agreements with the Vatican state and its partially-established constitutional status (institutional argument) help understand this strategy. The Episcopal Conference (EC) is the main responsible for confrontation at the state level while the bishops, at the regional one, have set out to defend church interests, and minimize the inflicted “damage”, by means of a number of agreements with regional authorities. Thus, the EC might end up losing political power in favour of regional EC, promoted not only by local nationalist churches but also by the increasing relevance of the regional level for church interests.