From a very young age I have considered education the central pillar on which society rests, so being now enrolled in my sixth educational institution and third away from home I cannot help but notice the flaws in our educational system. The rooted imperfections that taint Spanish society’s backbone are very apparent but as of today seem to be unyielding.
The Catholic Church has been present in the Iberian Peninsula (were Spain and Portugal are in the present day) for two millenniums. The Roman Emperor of Hispanic origin Theodosius I made Christianism the official religion of the Empire in the first century. From that moment on, Christianism and the Catholic Church increased its power in the peninsula. By the year 711 AD, the identification with Christian values was deeply entrenched in the inhabitants of what today we call Spain as the Muslim invaders coming from Africa made their way toward the north and almost conquered the whole peninsula. Several years later the ´Reconquista’ started, an approximately 800-year long Crusade to reoccupy the territories taken by the Umayyad Caliphate that extended from the Iberian peninsula, throughout northern Africa and until what today we know as the middle east. This experience, which today can be retold by most Spaniards, made the Christian faith a reason for the union from the very beginnings of my nation’s history. The process ended with the conquest of Granada and the world famous fortification Alhambra in 1942, during the reign of the Catholic Kings. Isabel, queen of Castile and Leon and Ferdinand, king of Aragon married and with them most of the kingdoms in the peninsula were under one rule (except Portugal and Navarre). They carried out a policy of religious unity under the Christian faith, finishing the reconquering against the Muslims in Granada, founding the inquisition and expelling the Jews from their kingdoms, all in 1492 AD. That same year Columbus arrived in the Caribbean Islands and a process of evangelization of the natives became the fuel for the American campaign.
Religion has been engraved in Spanish society for very long and its influence so strong that even in the first constitution signed in 1812, which was one of the most liberal ones of its time, introducing a democracy and removing sovereignty from the monarch, still established Spain as a Roman Catholic Nation and this religion as the only permitted one. The First Spanish Republic was also catholic in nature according to its constitution and it was not until the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, less than one hundred years ago, that the constitution established the Spanish nation as secular. Five years later, conservative army general Francisco Franco started the Civil War and won in 1939 starting an oppressive, reactionary and deeply religious dictatorship that lasted almost forty years. When he died in 1975, Spain started the transition towards a constitutional monarchy and democracy. The constitution of 1978 is in effect today and established Spain as a non-denominational state, with Article 16.1 establishing ideological and religious freedom. Also, as a radical change, it established academic freedom in Article 20.1c and freedom of teaching in article 27. It is only since 1978 with the exception of the short-lived the Second Republic that in Spain there is not an official doctrine that controls education.
Consider this brief history of the Catholic Church in Spain necessary to try to face and understand the situation that the Spanish educational system faces today. In a nation that is non-denominational according to its constitution, it is contradicting to see how the government assists the Catholic Church and implements measures to support it. It is important to note the difference between secular and non-denominational, the first relegating the matters of religion to a personal level and the second simply not favouring one denomination over another. The issue here is that a nation that, like Spain, says to be non-denominational can have the state intervene in religious matters, but under its statements of equality for all its citizens it must do so in a way that does not show any favouritism or bias towards any denomination in particular. The statement of secularism clashes with the obligation to cooperate with the Catholic Church and other denominations, that is also in the Constitution, and thus Spain is considered non-denominational and not secular. The problem is that the Catholic Church is so powerful and its influence throughout the preceding millenniums so strong that relatively, the cooperation of the state with this denomination overwhelms any cooperation with others and contradicts its principles of equality and non-discrimination.
The Catholic Church benefits from tax exemptions and great injections of capital from public money. Many official government acts involve Catholic symbols and traditions, which is inconsistent with the non-denominational nature of the nation. A great majority of charter schools, subsidized by the government, are Catholic and in public schools ‘Religion’ class in primary and secondary is an available elective by law, with a syllabus based on theology. This may seem acceptable since it is taken by choice, but in a country that by constitutional law claims to be non-denominational and affirms to support all denominations equally, a series of treaties with the Holy See (Vatican) agreeing to always offer this particular class and the absence of similar accords with other denominations is a case of an unconstitutional bias. The problem is not that Religion class is offered, but the fact that the overwhelming favouritism towards the Catholic denomination means that virtually, only Catholic doctrines taught in public schools and not others (which exist but are very rare), discriminating other religions that the constitution obliges the government to help to the same degree. A country must always abide by its constitution because one single incongruence can affect the rest of the building blocks for the laws of the nation. Religious freedom must be an unalienable right and thus a preferential treatment towards the Catholic Church, especially in education, a matter that affects Spanish society in such a direct way, is a form of discrimination that should be prevented.
According to Article 27 in the Spanish Constitution, “public authorities guarantee the right that assists parents so that their children receive the religious and moral instruction that agrees with their own convictions.” Again, this is a level of involvement in matters of religion that is too high for a declared non-denominational state. Obviously, its intentions are not to favour one religion over others, but in practice, there is an inevitable bias rising from the overwhelming influence of the Catholic Church in the nation’s past and present. This section of article 27 is inclusive of all denominations, but support from public authorities often fall victim to the false-consensus effect and neglects citizens that are protected under our constitution to the same level than any others. If we aspire to achieve a high level of social justice, we must start by implementing it fully in education, the pillar of our societies. It is indifferent whether all Spaniards are Catholic or not, as a secular state is not in any way conflicting with religion but in fact supportive of it through its defence of religious freedom. This is something that is often misunderstood and makes people take a defensive stance towards the adoption of authentic secularism. We are prone to frequently look for confrontation and assume innocuous beliefs to be opposed to ours, an attitude that obstructs our advancement as an ethical being. In this case, it is crucial to understand the fact that secularism is not the enemy of religion, but its ally in a new, modern society.
President of the United States J.F. Kennedy stated his belief in an America where “religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.” Kennedy was a devout Catholic and yet he understood the importance of genuine secularism existing in public offices and institutions to be true to the ethical standards we should hold ourselves to as a society. Religious freedom cannot fully be obtained until there is a clear separation of the state and any religious denominations that may exist in Spain. Parents have the right and should be able to provide their children with religious education, but in the church, the mosque, the synagogue… Whatever our religious beliefs may be, they should not be an obstacle in this day and age and in a modern civilized society to understand the social justice implications behind Montesquieu’s idea of separation of church and state.
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