Anti-clericalism

Anti-clericalism is a historical movement that opposes religious (generally Catholic) institutional power and influence in all aspects of public and political life, and the encroachment of religion in the everyday life of the citizen. It suggests a more active and partisan role than mere laïcité. The goal of anti-clericalism is to reduce religion to a purely private belief-system with no public profile or influence.

Anti-clericalism has at times been violent, leading to attacks and seizure of church property. It has tended to be associated with the Left-wing of the political spectrum, and with middle and working class intellectuals.

Anti-clericalism in one form or another has existed through most of Christian history, and is considered to be one of the major popular forces underlying the 16th Century reformation. The philosophers of the Enlightenment, including Voltaire, continually attacked the Catholic Church, its leadership and priests because of the moral corruption of many of its clergy. These assaults led to the expulsion of the Jesuits from most Catholic countries by 1800, and played a major part in the wholesale attacks on the very existence of the Church during the French Revolution.

France

Anti-clericalism is particularly discussed in the context of the French Third Republic and its dissensions with the Roman Catholic Church. Prior to 1905, the Catholic Church enjoyed preferential treatment from the French State (along with the Jewish, Lutheran and Calvinist minority religions). During the 19th century, priests were employed as teachers in public schools, and religion was taught in schools (teachers were also obliged to lead the class to Mass). But during the 1880s, Jules Ferry, Minister of Education, then Prime Minister ("Président du Conseil" indeed), began to expel religious figure from public schools (expelling 5000 on November 29, 1880). Then, in 1881-1882, his government passed the Ferry laws, which made primary education in France free, non-clerical (laïque) and obligatory. The Church also appeared to support royalist opinions, and was involved in anti-semitic attacks such as the Dreyfus Affair.

As a consequence, many people, especially on the political left, more specifically during the presidency of the council of Émile Combes, sought the separation of Church and State and the imposition of laïcité — that is, the separation of government and religion and the neutrality of government with respect to religious issues. Note that the division between "clericalists" and "anti-clericalists" does not exactly fit the boundaries of "believers" and "nonbelievers"; on the one hand, some Christians felt the Church should not intervene in political life, on the other hand, some, like Charles Maurras, while they did not believe in God, supported the power of the Catholic Church, for they felt it was essential to national cohesion and their political goals (see also reactionary).

The 1905 Separation of Church and State was highly controversial. Most Catholic schools and educational foundations were closed, and many religious orders were dissolved.

Italy

Anti-clericalism in Italy is connected with reaction against the alleged tyranny of the Papal States, overthrown in 1870. For a long time, the Pope required Catholics not to participate in the public life of the Kingdom of Italy that had invaded the Papal States to complete the unification of Italy, leaving the pope confined in the Vatican. Some politicians that had played important roles in this process, such as Camillo Cavour, were known to be hostile to the temporal and political power of the Church.

The hostility between the Holy See and the kingdom was finally settled by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who sought an agreement with the Church to gain its support: the Lateran treaties were finalised in 1929.

After World War II, anti-clericalism was embodied by the communist and socialist parties, in opposition to the Vatican-endorsed Christian Democracy.

The revision of the Lateran treaties in the eighties by the socialist prime minister of Italy Bettino Craxi, removed the status of "official religion" of the Catholic Church, but still granted a series of provisions in favour of the Church, such as the eight per thousand law, the teaching of religion in schools, and other privileges.

Recently, the Catholic Church has been taking a more aggressive stance in Italian politics, in particular through Cardinal Camillo Ruini, who often makes his voice heard commenting the political debate and indicating the official line of the Church on various matters. This interventionism has increased with the papacy of Benedict XVI. Anti-clericalism, however, is not the official stance of most parties (with the exception of the Italian Radicals), as most party leaders consider it an electoral disadvantage to openly contradict the Church: since the demise of the Christian Democracy as a single party, Catholic votes are often swinging between the right and the left wing, and are considered to be decisive to win an election.

Mexico

Following the Revolution of 1860, US-backed President Benito Juárez, issued a decree nationalizing church property, separating church and state, and suppressing religious orders.

Following the revolution of 1910, the new Mexican Constitution of 1917 contained further anti-clerical provisions. Article 3 called for secular education in the schools; Article 5 outlawed monastic orders; Article 24 forbade public worship outside the confines of churches; and Article 27 placed restrictions on the right of religious organizations to hold property. Most obnoxious to Catholics was Article 130, which deprived clergy members of basic political rights. Many of these laws were resisted, leading to the Cristero Rebellion of 1927 - 1929.

Portugal

A first wave of anti-clericalism occurred in 1834 when under the government of Dom Pedro all convents and monasteries in Portugal were abolished, simultaneously closing some of Portugal's primary educational establishments. The fall of the Monarchy in the Republican revolution of 1910 led to another wave of anti-clerical activity. Most church property was put under State control, and the church was not allowed to inherit property. The wearing of religious garb and religious instruction in schools were abolished, as well as religious oaths and church taxes.

Spain

In 1836 following the First Carlist War, the new regime abolished the major Spanish Convents and Monasteries. The Radical Alejandro Lerroux distinguished himself by his inflammatory pieces of opinion. During the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, many of the Republican forces were violently anti-clerical anarchists and Communists, whose assaults included sacking and burning monasteries and churches and killing an estimated 6,000 priests, including 259 Claretians, 226 Franciscans, 204 Piarists, 176 Brothers of Mary, 165 Christian Brothers, 155 Augustinians, 132 Dominicans, and 114 Jesuits. Unfortunately, such occurrences were often exaggerated by the opposing side, the Nationalists, for purposes of propaganda, and the levels of anti-clerical violence are still debated. Despite this, the Catholic Church (mainly John Paul II) has seen fit to recognize several martyrs of the Spanish Civil War.

The Role of Freemasonry

Main article: Catholicism and Freemasonry

Freemasonry has historically been seen, especially by the Catholic church as a principle source of anti-Clericalism - especially in, but not limited to, historically Catholic countries. Certain branches of Freemasonry are acknowledged by Masonic sources as a major source of anti-clericalism in Mexico, Italy and France. Other branches of Freemasonry have historically supported the Church.

Communism

Most communist governments have been officially anti-clerical, abolishing religious holidays, teaching atheism in schools, closing monasteries, church social and educational institutions and many churches. In the USSR, anti-clericalism was expressed through state violence; it is estimated that thousands of priests and monks were either executed or sent to forced labour camps to die during the Stalin era.

Today

Today, in most countries, involvement of the Roman Catholic Church in public life is relatively limited, causing traditional anti-clericalism to be fairly uncommon. It remains a somewhat popular topic in some left-wing circles, and in the French satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné.

Anti-clericalism has recently focused on Islam, particularly its treatment of women, such as segregation of the sexes. Recently, several Western European nations, dealing with cultural clashes between secular, Christian, and Islamic populations, have adopted rules that can be perceived as anti-clerical, or as merely anti-Islamic-clerical. France, for instance, adopted a law banning conspicuous religious symbols in schools, widely perceived to be in response to local Islamic practices of female dress codes.

A notably anti-clericalist party in Israel is Shinui, which actively opposes the presence of rabbis in Israel's political structure.

See also

• Roman Catholicism's links with political authorities
• mullahcracy
• Laïcité