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Interwar Dictatorships, the Catholic Church and Concordats: The Portuguese New State in a Comparative Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2016

RITA ALMEIDA DE CARVALHO
RITA ALMEIDA DE CARVALHO*
Affiliation:
Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Avenida Aníbal Bettencourt, 9, 1600–189 Lisbon, Portugal; [email protected]
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Abstract

Established in 1933 by Oliveira Salazar, the Portuguese New State was a civil, nationalist, conservative and corporatist dictatorship. A concordat was established between the New State and the Holy See in 1940, yet the treaty did not favour the Catholic Church to the degree one might expect from a Catholic interwar dictator. The fact that the political legitimacy of the Portuguese regime was not dependent on sanctioning by the Holy See justifies this apparent inconsistency. The distinctive features of the Portuguese concordat were enhanced by the authoritarian, rather than totalitarian, nature of the regime. Salazar, more so than Mussolini or Franco, was constrained by political forces not in favour of Catholic privileges. In addition, the dictator himself defended a strict separation of church and state as prescribed by the Portuguese constitution. Nonetheless, Salazar regarded the concordat as an important propaganda instrument that, in association with the 1940 Exhibition of the Portuguese World, would allow the internal and external prestige of the regime to be increased.

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Articles
Information
Contemporary European History , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 37 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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References

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31 ‘Notas das fases das negociações com a Santa Sé. Apontamentos sumários de diligências e trabalhos. V’, 30 Apr. 1940, TT, AOS/CO/NE – 29A, 251–339.

32 The original 1933 wording declared that education provided by the State was independent of any religious worship.

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42 ‘Nota explicativa da posição do governo relativamente às modificações sugeridas pela Santa Sé, na contraproposta que apresentou em 21 de Outubro de 1937’, 11 May 1938, AHD-MNE, Santa Sé, GSG, M 9.

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52 ‘Observações ao Projecto de Concordata da autoria do Cardeal Cerejeira’, TT, AOS/CO/NE – 29A, 391. During the negotiations, a member of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs wrote in an internal report: ‘it is amazing that Portugal, where the Church was so depredated to the point that the Presidential Palace is a former convent, did not want to grant a tax exemption for bishops’ palaces and residences’. ASV, AES – Portogallo, IV Periodo, pos. 427 (4), fasc. 172, 105.

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59 Goa, Cochin, Meliapore, Bombay, Quilon, Mangalore and Trichinopoly. Following the independence of India in 1947, the Padroado was abolished by mutual agreement in 1950.

60 ‘Apontamentos de Conversa do Ministro N E’, AHD-MNE, Santa Sé, GSG, M 1.

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62 The Portuguese representative was only informed that Salazar was negotiating an agreement and the diplomat was told not to talk about the subject. Given Salazar's complaints, the Holy See did not seem to have granted great negotiations powers to the nuncio. See letter from Salazar to the cardinal patriarch, 30 Jun. 1939, TT, AOS/CO/NE – 29A, 417–23.

63 This is how the apostolic nuncio in Lisbon explained the government's requirements to the Vatican in the beginning of the negotiation process in 1937. ASV, AES, Portogallo – Concordato, pos. 398 (3), fasc. 158, 5-6.

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75 Philipe Pétain, AN. Série AG (Papiers des Chefs de l’État). 2AG 11 (PP 10) C. – Documentation relative á l'activité de l'Ambassade de France en Espagne, Archives Nationales de France, Paris.

76 Tussell, Franco, 318.

77 The French ambassador to the Vatican described a conversation he had with the pro-secretary of state as following: ‘with the malice proper to him, monsignor Tardini . . . confided to me that this Concordat was “magnificent” and beneficial to the Church in such a manner that could only be expected from Spain. “Ah! Ah”, observed the pro-secretary of state sounding a bit playful, “when someone proclaims that a nation and a government are fully Catholic and when he is keen to make this profession of faith well known, he has to be consistent with himself . . . acts must conform to the principles proclaimed”’. Report from the French ambassador in the Holy See, 24 Jul. 1953, MAE, Paris, CPC, Z, E, 1945-1955, Espagne, 143, 37–8.

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84 Letter from the French diplomatic representative in Portugal, 26 Mar. 1934, MAE, Paris, CPC, Z, E, 1918–1929, Portugal, 75, 76, 77.

85 MAE, Rome, AP, 1931–1945, Santa Sede, Busta 52 (1941), Relazioni tra la Santa Sede.

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89 TT, AOS/CO/NE – 29, 1087–91.