Exactly as in politics and the city at large, the Catholic Church contains a broad spectrum of thought, ranging from conservative to progressive. During Francisco Franco’s rule, the Church was one of the principal pillars of the dictatorship with far-reaching influence on the running of the country, and the conservative wing was in full ecclesiastical control. But even before Franco died, a progressive wing of the Church was emerging. In March 1966, more than a hundred priests and monks marched to police headquarters on Via Laietana, protesting the mistreatment of an arrested university student; as a result of their demonstration, they were charged by the police and beaten.
When Franco died, the Church’s grip on power was lost, as was the absolute internal control of the Church by its conservative wing. In the early post-Franco years, many young Spaniards joined ‘base groups’ of believers who lived together in communal arrangements, and tried to serve others. Among the priesthood were curas obreros (worker priests), ordained men who declined to base their lives in a church, but instead went out and held normal jobs, while also following their vocation.
Other priests chose to go to the poorest, more marginalised neighbourhoods. They were ‘curas de la calle’ (literally street priests) who saw their work as being on the streets rather than waiting in church for people to seek them out. One of Barcelona’s most famous curas de la calle is Manel Pousa, better known as Pare Manel. He is a motorcycle-riding parish priest in Trinitat Vella, and has frequently appeared in the Catalan media. Every June, some of Catalunya’s best-known entertainers, such as the comedy trio Tricicle and musician Joan Manuel Serrat, stage a benefit evening for the Fundació Pare Manel, which works with poor children and prisoners from the Nou Barris neighbourhood, trying to increase their opportunities for successful lives.
In March this year, however, Pare Manel’s name was in all the media for a very different reason. Cardinal Lluís Martínez Sistach, archbishop of Barcelona, announced on March 16th that he had opened an investigation into the fact that Pare Manel had paid for two abortions, saying that the process could lead to the priest’s excommunication. In fact, canonical law calls for automatic excommunication for anyone who collaborates in an abortion. While the incident happened five years ago, it was revisited this year with the publication of a biography of the priest, Pare Manel. Més a prop de la terra que del cel (Pare Manel. Closer to Earth than to Heaven).
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