Spain: Toward a Change

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traditional ally of Franco's. In town after town in Asturias. police found that priests of the H.O.A.C.—the Workers' Brotherhoods of Catholic Action—had urged miners to fight for their rights. H.O.A.C. firmly denies it had any part in the strikes, but frankly admits that "We have worked with thousands of men. and it is they who took the lead." Constantly pointing up the contrasts between Spain's poverty and its wealth. H.O.A.C. has a network of offices in all major cities. It represents the church's hedge against the chance of Franco's downfall.

For several years important churchmen have been edging away from Franco's philosophies. Bishop Angel Herrera of Malaga has been exposing Spain's social inequities from the pulpit for more than a decade. In 1960, a letter was signed by 352 Basque priests condemning the regime's stifling of basic freedoms; last year several Catholic archbishops urged El Caudillo to drop press censorship.

Spain's conservative and puritanical pri mate. Enrique Cardinal Pla y Deniel, 84. Archbishop of Toledo, has vigorously stepped in to defend H.O.A.C.; after Franco lashed out at "some exalted priests" for stirring up trouble in Asturias, Cardinal Pla y Deniel allowed his church officials to discipline the erring priests, but neglected to condemn their activities.

An increasingly important arm of the Catholic Church in Spain is Opus Dei, a semisecret lay order whose members vow obedience, poverty and chastity, and have reached every level of official and intellectual life in Spain. The organization has no stated political goals, except to maintain the church's influence in any government that rules. Opus Dei is no particular ally of the regime, but three members are in Franco's Cabinet, including Commerce Minister Ullastres. They tend to be highly conservative in politics, strongly liberal in economics.

Saints in Uniform. No one was suggesting that the hierarchy would risk losing the 1953 Concordat with Franco; it gave the Catholic Church far more power in Spain than it ever had under the Catholic kings. But unmistakably there were now strong reservations attached to the old friendship.

Still full and unreserved are Dictator Francisco Franco's prestige and power with the group that counts most in today's Spain, the army. Perhaps the Caudillo's closest friend and ally is the Chief of the General Staff, Captain General Agustin Munoz Grandes, who commanded Franco's Blue Division when it fought beside the Nazis on the Russian front in 1941, and who has an iron grip on the military units (400,000 men).

In a country that rarely thinks about "conflict of interest," the boards of di rectors of scores of big Spanish banks and industrial firms are studded with colonels and generals on the active list. This way, key sectors of the economy are always kept under the influence of the military. And despite the church's liberal moves, it still looks to the army for stability, an alliance symbolized by the host of saints who hold military rank and whose relics are accorded military honors. Spain's highest-ranking officer is the Virgin of Pilar, captain general and patroness of the army.

The Police State. Spain's badly paid but disciplined soldiers and the bronzed, rifle-carrying Guardia Civil men, in their tricorn