The head of the Catholic Church in Spain has said it should recognise past sins, in a speech interpreted by media commentators as a plea for forgiveness for Church support for the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.
"The Church says sorry," was one typical newspaper headline on Tuesday, after the speech late on Monday by the outgoing head of the Spanish bishops' conference, Bilbao Bishop Ricardo Blazquez, but some church watchers hinted the media had jumped to conclusions.
An apology by the Church would be immediately put to political use in Spain, especially at a time when the Socialist government is sponsoring a law to recognise victims of the 1936-39 war and the subsequent dictatorship.
But what Blazquez actually said was more nuanced than a straightforward apology for the Church's behaviour in the Civil War, during which it gave its backing for Franco's military coup as a "Christian crusade."
"Without raising ourselves up proudly as judges of others, we have to seek forgiveness and reorient ourselves," said Blazquez, after speaking at length about the need to come to terms with the conflict, whose legacy divides Spain to this day.
FORGIVENESS OF GOD
While the Bishops' Conference would not comment on Blazquez's speech, Rafael Sanz de Diego, who teaches Church History at Madrid's Jesuit-run Comillas University, said he had been misinterpreted.
"Rather than asking for forgiveness for the Church, he asks for the forgiveness of God for everyone," said Sanz de Diego.
Under the previous pope, John Paul II, the Catholic Church asked forgiveness for sins against several groups, including Jews, Muslims and even scientists.
But forgiveness over the Civil War has been a scarce commodity in Spain, whose transformation into a prosperous democracy has not been matched by any cooling of passions over events seven decades ago.
Only last month, the Church was accused of stirring up old conflicts when it beatified 498 of its members, mainly priests and nuns, who were killed by left-wing militias during the war, meaning that some could eventually be declared saints.
In his speech, Blazquez reaffirmed the Church's right to remember its dead, and said historians were gradually revealing the "complex truth" of the Civil War.
"I don't think the Church will ask for forgiveness, or that it should ask for forgiveness," said Sanz de Diego, "Partly because the people who killed and persecuted (priests and nuns) haven't asked for forgiveness either."
