The Holy See Will Not Oppose the Exhumation of Franco’s Remains

The vice-president of the Carmen Calvo administration met with the Holy See Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, at the Vatican on the morning of October 29, 2018. This was the first meeting between the representatives of the Spanish government and the Vatican since Socialist Pedro Sánchez came into power last June.

After discussing the abuse of minors, the tax system of the Church in Spain, and the procedure for reviewing the property recorded by the Church, they brought up the question of what lies in store for General Franco’s remains.

According to the statement from the Spanish government, Cardinal Parolin supposedly guaranteed that the Holy See will not oppose the exhumation of the Caudillo’s mortal remains that are currently buried in the basilica of the Valle de los Caidos, as he desired. 

Francisco Franco’s victory over the Spanish Communists after the civil war of 1936 restored the Church to her rights and put an end to the bloody persecution whose first victims were the Christians. 

In 1935, under the Caudillo’s government, the Holy See signed a Concordat with Spain that was very advantageous for the Church.

Five years later, in 1958, the country’s Constitution proclaimed:

The Spanish nation takes glory in her respect for the divine law according to the one true doctrine of the Holy Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church and the Faith inseparable from the national conscience that will both inspire her laws.

Sixty years have passed, and the heirs of the Communists have returned to power and inherited the same hatred for Catholic Spain and her history. Who knows, maybe some good will come of this cheap shot and General Franco will be buried in the cathedral of Madrid, with his kin.