Planteamiento de la cuestión religiosa en España: 1899-1902

Abstract

43

The Spanish Liberal Party introduced the religious question to its program in 1899. This measure was probably considered necessary for subsistence, given the strenght of the Conservative Party, which favoured to Sorne extent, the Alphonsine traditionalism fostered by Leo XIII. Consequently it proposed legislation affecting, aboye aH,. state supervision of private teaching -almost exclusively religious- and especiaHy the control of Institutes of christian perfection, aH of this gave rise to the juridical problem of the interpretation of Article 29 of the Spanish Concordat which literaHy obliges the State to defend three specüicaHy-named male Institutes without special mention of other cases. Discussion between the Liberals and Traditionalists at a diplomatic level first occurred in September 1901 and still continued, without definite conclusions having been reached, at the end of the period which is studied here. In this period, the last I..iberal Government with Sagasta as President, promulgated sorne measures relating to the control of the Institutes, and, especially, the Royal Decree of 19-9-1901. But the manner of its posterior application
clearly shows that it was merely intended as apurely political measure. It was intended to placate public opinion and had, in fact, been secretly negotiated with the Holy See. The following sources were consulted for purposes of thls present study: the General Archives of the Spanish Foreign Office, the documents of the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See,. the Archives of the Royal Palace in Madrid, the daily press of various tendencies, historiography and recent bibliography.