THE CHURCH AND FRANCO

I had a conversation on Sunday afternoon, 1st January, with Mr. de Caux, who was preparing to return to Barcelona the following day. He told me of an interesting conversation which he had had with Francisco Herrera. You will recollect latter as having paid a visit to Dublin in 1935; he was then proprietor of 'El Debate', the Catholic newspaper founded in 1916 by his brother Angel Herrera, who, is now studying for the priesthood and is a seminarist somewhere in Germany; Francisco Herrera had and no doubt still has close relations with the Jesuits and was the principal promoter and supporter of Gil Robles²; I heard from a Spanish Nationalist friend here some time ago that Herrera and Robles were no longer on friendly terms, and this friend also assured me that, prior to the civil war, Herrera had placed his faith in the late General Mola and had helped the latter in making preparation for the rising, but I have never obtained confirmation of this rumour elsewhere. Francisco Herrera's name is familiar throughout Spain, and he himself is of outstanding importance because of his identification with Catholic Action there. I do not know what are his special activities at the moment, apart from the fact that he owns three or four newspapers in Nationalist Spain and that he crosses back and forwards across the French frontier from time to time.

What de Caux told me was that Herrera, about three months ago, had approached him and sought to induce him to start a campaign in the 'Times' in favour of a restoration of the monarchy (but not of Alfonso) in Spain, but that he had had to reply that this could not be done, or at least that he could not do anything in the matter. Herrera's argument was that it was 'absolutely essential' to get rid of Franco and to put a stop to the encroachment of Nazi influences in Spain, and that it would be to England's advantage to throw her weight in the scale in favour of a restoration of the monarchy, as she had done in Greece. De Caux said that Herrera's moral character was such that he was scarcely the right man to lead Catholic opinion in Spain, and he made some allusion to his being seen at times in the company of women. De Mamblas had expressed the opinion to de Caux that Herrera was 'imprudent'. And now, within the past few days, Francisco Herrera had been refused permission, at the Spanish side of the International Bridge at Irun, to re-enter Spain.

I had not much time to discuss this question with de Caux, as it was close on 4.30 p.m. and he had given an appointment at that hour to Herrera, who was shown into the room as we were talking. The purpose of their interview is unknown to me, but perhaps de Caux will again take me into his confidence when he returns from Barcelona at Easter. His opinion is that serious trouble and perhaps further civil war must take place in Spain if there should be a victory either for Burgos or for Barcelona; it is because I share this belief that I deem it possible that, sooner or later, influential Spaniards will come to realise that the most effective if not the only way to remove the danger likely to result from radical tendencies on the left and on the right is to find a means of bridging the gulf between less extreme opinion on either side and forming a strong central administration, whether republican or monarchist in form.

My report of 19th December last on Cardinal Goma³ is of additional interest now that we know the attitude of Francisco Herrera, which also seems to justify to some extent the views expressed on page 6 of my report of 4th August 1938⁴ on Nationalist Dissensions.

Herrera's attitude leads me to believe that Franco has identified himself definitely with the Falange Española philosophy and programme, and I presume that extreme opinion in that organisation no longer distrusts him; I think you know that Falange Española has always very much resented that imputation that they were in any degree anti-catholic; I have noticed of late a certain amount of publicity given to Franco's devout observance of his religious duties. However, Catholic distrust, anxiety and hostility seem to be exemplified in the attitude of Herrera, and the exclusion, even if only temporarily, of Herrera from Catholic Spain is a clear indication of strained relations between Franco and Catholic Spain.

There is, then, good reason for hesitating to take any step which might associate us more closely with Franco at a time when he is beginning to be looked upon with distrust by the leaders of Spanish Catholic thought. It may yet be found that, by refraining from taking any positive step which might be interpreted as a departure from neutrality, we shall find ourselves in due course in a position to cooperate in peaceful efforts which may some day be made to reconcile conflicting opinions in Spain.