Catholicism in the Second Spanish Republic

Catholicism in the Second Spanish Republic was an important area of dispute, and tensions between the Catholic hierarchy and the Republic were apparent from the beginning, eventually leading to the Catholic Church acting against the Republic and in collaboration with the regime of Francisco Franco. The establishment of the Republic began 'the most dramatic phase in the contemporary history of both Spain and the Church.' In the early 1930s, the dispute over the role of the Catholic Church and the rights of Catholics were one of the major issues which worked against the securing of a broad democratic majority and "left the body politic divided almost from the start." The historian Mary Vincent has argued that the Catholic Church was an active element in the polarising politics of the years preceding the Spanish Civil War.

Source: Wikipedia — Catholicism in the Second Spanish Republic (CC BY-SA 4.0)