The Fascist Friendly Catholic Church

It is not enough, you could actually file this one under the "too little, too late" label, but at least it brings into the lime light one historic fact that is often denied by revisionist historians, the Catholic Church supported the fascist dictatorship of Francisco Franco, a murderous regime that lasted forty years. This note regarding the ceremony by the Basque Autonomous Community's bishops to ask for an apology for their silence regarding the execution of Basque priests by Francisco Franco's troops during the so called Spanish Civil War was published at The Telegraph:

Basque Bishops call for Catholic Church apology

Bishops in the Basque Country have urged the Roman Catholic Church to apologise for its silence over the killing of priests by General Francisco Franco's Right-wing forces during the Spanish Civil War.

Fiona Govan

Spain's Catholic Church supported Franco's uprising against the elected Left-wing Republican government. While the Church has always honoured the thousands of clergy who died at the hands of the Republicans, those who were killed by Franco have been officially ignored.

In an unprecedented step, a service was held in the cathedral of the Basque Country's capital, Vitoria, to remember 14 priests who were killed by Franco's forces during the 1936-39 war.

"The silence with which officials of our Church surrounded the deaths of these priests is not justifiable, nor acceptable for much longer," said Miguel Asurmendi, the Catholic bishop of Vitoria, during the ceremony.

"Such a long silence was not only a wrongful omission, but also a lack of truth and an act against justice and charity."

The Catholic Church has beatified hundreds of "martyrs" who were killed by the Republicans, who were explicitly anticlerical. Pope Benedict XVI staged the largest beatification ceremony ever in October 2007 when he honoured almost 500 Spanish priests, monks and nuns who died in this way.

There are plans for another such ceremony, sparking further criticism by Spaniards who feel the Church should atone for having supported Franco's regime, which lasted until the general's death in 1975.

Spain has made great strides in coming to terms with the trauma of its recent history. Two years ago, the socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero passed the Historic Memory Law, which recognises Franco's victims.

Sadly, the author chooses to give Zapatero a free pass. Yes, a Historic Memory Law was passed under this government but it is actually a watered down version of the original. Zapatero made sure that this Law would represent no danger to the Spanish elites that today uphold Francisco Franco's principles, a Law that erects all kinds of roadblocks for the NGO's trying to literally unearth the truth of what happened. After all, Zapatero works directly for Juan Carlos Borbon, a "king" that was selected by Francisco Franco himself to perpetuate his regime.

No, regarding the Basque bishops act of contrition, it is not enough with asking for forgiveness. The damage caused must be repaired. The names of the priests that murdered Republicans must be provided, the Catholic Church archives have to be available for researchers and truth commissions, the continuous support of the Catholic Church towards fascist regimes must be denounced. Asking for forgiveness leads to nothing. What's so courageous about condemning yesterday's executions when today you join ranks with the direct descendants of those who ordered the executions?

Truth and justice, trial and punishment for those responsible. That's what they must demand, not just play it easy and resort to a deceitful request for forgiveness.

Asking for forgiveness does not right a wrong, only justice does. Not forgotten, not forgiven, a loud and clear no to reconciliation.

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Sanfermines : Time Magazine 1932

Because of its historic value we thank Time Magazine for publishing this article about the Sanfermines in Iruñea from back in 1932:

Animals: Pamplona's Encierros

Monday, Jul. 11, 1932

For 51 weeks of the year the capital of Navarra is a sleepy little Spanish city where half-naked children play in the narrow streets and café waiters doze under the arcades of the broad, quiet Plaza de la Constitucíon. But in the second week of July, Pamplona becomes bull-mad, its streets and plaza are full of snuffing, rushing bulls. Hotels and rooming houses overflow with visitors from Madrid, Bilbao, San Sebastian, with tourists from St. Jean-de-Luz, Biarritz and Paris. Peasants from miles around sleep in wagons, in the fields, or do not sleep at all. For four days from 6 a. m. until long after midnight sleep is next to impossible while Pamplona celebrates the Fiesta of San Fermín, its patron saint. There are bullfights, street dancing, parades of huge grotesque figures, much drinking of strong Spanish wine. But by far the most exciting ceremony—one which takes place only at Pamplona—is the encierro (driving of the bulls).

Soon after dawn the first day of the fiesta this week, hundreds of youths gathered at the edge of town near the railroad station. Men climbed upon six big cages, reached down and opened them. Out walked six bulls, blinking in the sunlight. They were strong, lithe, handsome, each branded with the mark of Don Ernesto Blanco. They looked around, uncertain what to do, until from the crowd of youths came a yell: "Hah! Hah! . . . Toro!" The bulls lowered their heads, charged the crowd. The crowd took to its heels, the bulls stampeding in pursuit.

Through the narrow streets rushed the yelling rabble of boys and young men, while women cheered from the safety of windows. From every doorway came male recruits to swell the throng. Across the city they ran, the foremost bull not three paces behind the last man. At the plaza the path of the encierro is marked by fences, behind which hundreds of tourists and visitors watched. A few, carried away by the excitement, vaulted the fence, joined the runners. Occasionally a runner fell, lay still while the bulls, their eyes on the moving mass, pounded over them. From the plaza the chase poured into another small street, then men & bulls made one mad rush for the entrance of the bull ring.

The gate is far too small to let all through at once. Those who could not get in fell to the ground. Men piled upon men, bulls leaped over a human wall and charged snorting into the ring. There they found men waving coats, shirts, rags—anything that remotely resembled a matador's cape. The bulls charged here & there. Sometimes a novice held his bull's attention, executed several passes. Sometimes he went down with a horn wound in his leg.

Into this bedlam now trotted a bunch of steers. The bulls charged, goring the steers at first but gradually making friends with them, quieting down in the company of fellow cattle. Then the steers led the bulls out to pens under the arena.

The failed to mention anything regarding the Basque identity of this tradition, but at least they did mention Navarra and not just Spain.

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Bulls and Hemingway

In this article published by Time Magazine you will get some basic information about the main festivity in Euskal Herria, the Sanfermines in Iruñea:

The Running of the Bulls

Randy James

As they have each July for centuries, the narrow, cobblestone streets of Pamplona, Spain, are thundering with the sound of charging bulls. The weeklong annual celebration originated as a religious festival to honor St. Fermin, the patron saint of this small city in Spain's northern Basque region. Today the festival attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world, many of whom are drawn to its world-famous encierro, or running of the bulls, which begins July 7 and was made famous outside Spain by Ernest Hemingway's 1926 classic The Sun Also Rises.

The running of the bulls began as a way to move bulls from Pamplona's corral to its bullfighting ring. The animals would run the roughly half-mile stretch as children and adults herded them with shouts and sticks. The practice may date back as far as the 13th century, but it is known to have continued virtually uninterrupted since 1592, when the festival was moved from September to July. People are thought to have joined the herd sometime in the 1800s.

Nowadays, thousands of participants from around the world dash through Pamplona's streets trailed by charging bulls. Thousands more watch from safe nooks and balconies along the route, and spectators can also follow the events on national TV. Every morning from July 7 to 14, hordes of daredevils gather in a historic section of the city, many dressed in traditional garb and carrying rolled-up newspapers to swat the bulls if necessary. They sing a traditional homage to St. Fermin, asking him to guide them through the run. After two small rockets are fired, six bulls are released (along with a herd of steers), and the chase is on. The event generally takes just a few minutes.

As one might imagine, running with an angry, half-ton bull on your heels is not a particularly safe pastime. Since 1924, 14 people have been killed at the St. Fermin festival; the last to be fatally gored was a 22-year-old American, Matthew Tassio, in 1995. Witnesses said Tassio was knocked to the ground by a bull, then got up again and was struck by a second animal — a violation of the axiom that runners should remain on the ground if they get knocked down. Many people are injured each year, by both the animals and the crush of sprinters frantically making their way to the bullfighting arena on slippery cobblestones. Observers say foreigners — especially, for some reason, Americans — are most likely to be injured. "Americans come here with the image of The Sun Also Rises and just don't realize how dangerous it is and how easy it is to trip up," Daniel Ross, an American vice consul in Spain, told the New York Times after Tassio's accident.

Another factor fueling injuries in Pamplona is alcohol. As Hemingway chronicled, the festival is awash in wine and sangria, and runners partake copiously during long nights of partying. Participating in the run while tipsy is against the festival's rules, but violations are common. Another oft broken requirement is that all runners be at least 18 years of age. Many Spaniards were outraged to see televised images of a smiling 10-year-old boy dashing through the streets of Pamplona in 2007. The boy's mother was horrified as well; her ex-husband, who took the youngster to the festival, lost his visitation rights and was fined $200.

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San Juan Festivity in Euskal Herria

Some more cultural information from the Basque Country courtesy of EITb:

San Juan in the Basque Country: The most widespread festivity

San Juan festivity, the most widespread festivity, will be celebrated on June 24 with many different bonfires.

Besides its deep purifying character the bonfire of San Juan’s eve bears relation to the bonfires lighted to keep off non-desired visits: the evil spirits that, using the privileges this holy night offered, might be a threat.

In almost all Europe, the summer solstice comes accompanied with ancestral rituals. Many Basque villages – Agurain, Hernani, Eibar, La Guardia, Leioa, Muskiz, Segura, Tolosa, …- celebrate their patron festivities in honour of San Juan (24th June), and all of them are still reminiscent of traditions with an origin lost in history.

San Juan’s Eve: Protecting and purifying fire

Regardless of the patron they chose, all the villages in the Basque Country gain a magic atmosphere on San Juan’s eve, when they light the bonfires, which take their roots from ancestral traditions related to the summer solstice. Obviously, this way of getting into a new natural cycle, leaving definitely aside the winter and welcoming the summer, is not a Basque peculiarity. There is a similar atmosphere in many Spanish places and European countries, whatever its cultural roots.

Nevertheless, the rituals related to the shortest night of the year have survived more intensely in some cultures, and the Basque is one of them. According to the Celtic tradition, the dead could get in touch with the living on this night. Besides its deep purifying character – reinforced in some cases by rituals related to water- the bonfire of San Juan’s eve bears relation to the bonfires lighted to keep off non-desired visits: the evil spirits that, using the privileges this holy night offered, might be a threat. Rites that are represented in very peculiar dances in some places such as the ones mentioned in this proposal.

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The Holly Inquisition Today

Well, here you have hard evidence that The Vatican is a backwards institution that belongs in the Middle Ages. This note comes to us via EITb:

Vatican to suspend Basque theologian Jon Sobrino

He is charged with distorting the image of the historical Jesus. The well-known Jesuit, one of greatest exponents of the Liberation Theology, will not be allowed to teach or to publish books.

Jon Sobrino, renowned theologian and one of the leaders of the Liberation Theology, will be punished by Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Spain's El Mundo newspaper reports Friday.

According to El Mundo, the Vatican charges Sobrino with "not stating openly the divine conscience of the historical Jesus, this is, putting too much stress on the humanity of Christ hiding its divinity.

The Congregation will ban Sobrino from teaching in Church centres and from publishing books. The punishment will be announced within the next days, although the Spanish newspaper says it might be next March 15. It adds Sobrino and the Jesuit Order already know about the sanction.

The same sources say the Vatican asked Sobrino to correct its attitude. The Basque theologian asked his superiors for advice and he was told he would be backed no matter which his decision was. He decided not to rectify and the Vatican continued the proceedings.

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