The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) has given a cautious welcome to Spanish plans to address a historic “injustice” surrounding the pensions of evangelical pastors.
The issue centres on the treatment of evangelical ministers under and after Franco’s rule.
Evangelical ministers were not brought into Spain’s General Social Security Scheme until 1999, meaning that many who had worked before then had periods of service that were not recognised as contributory for pension purposes.
Franco came to power in 1939 following a bitter civil war with communist and other left-wing groups. His rule lasted until 1975 and placed a strong emphasis on the place of the Catholic Church in Spain.
Last week Spain’s Council of Ministers approved a Royal Decree that outlines how evangelical pastors can have their work prior to 1999 recognised in the social security and pensions system.
Rev Botrus Mansour, Secretary General of the WEA, said, “We join our beloved brothers and sisters in Spain in this important achievement and call on the Spanish government to sit down with representatives of the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities in Spain (FEREDE) to work out some of the remaining points of difference.”
FEREDE’s Executive Secretary, Carolina Bueno Calvo, said the pensions issue had been a long-running grievance and that the latest measures, while welcome, did not go far enough.
“In our view, this requires not only the recognition of the injustice committed by the Spanish State against Protestant pastors and their families for decades, but also the corresponding moral reparation through an act of vindication that allows this dark chapter of the history of Spanish Protestantism - which is also the history of Spain - to be closed with dignity.”
She continued, “Upon analyzing the text, we have found that despite the progress represented by the recognition of the years that evangelical pastors were unable to contribute due to legal impediments by the State, the requirements for affected pastors and widows to qualify for the measure and benefit from it are far from sufficiently satisfactory, since they are required to pay the capital cost contributions for the years they were not allowed to contribute. In our view, this requirement is unfair.”
Evangelicals have requested a meeting with government officials in an attempt to improve the terms of the Royal Decree before it takes effect.
While around 700 of the 1,200 pastors impacted have already died, many have surviving widows who stand to benefit from whatever redress is finally offered.
Spain’s Social Security Minister, Elma Saiz, described the decree as “a measure that does justice to a group of people who were persecuted during the dictatorship, who carried out their work at a time when they lacked the protective umbrella of the Social Security system, and who will finally see an improvement in their protection”.
