Francisco Vidal y Barraquer
Encyclopedia
Francisco de Asís Vidal y Barraquer (October 3, 1868 – September 13, 1943) was a Spanish
Cardinal
of the Roman Catholic Church
who served as Archbishop of Tarragona from 1919 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate
in 1921.
He famously refused to sign the 1937 Collective Letter in which the Spanish Church's hierarchy gave their support to Francisco Franco
's forces, and died in exile in Switzerland.
to a family of rural landowners and liberal professionals, Francisco Vidal y Barraquer attended the Colegio San Ignacio in Manresa
(1880–1885), earned his bachillerato
at the seminary
in Barcelona
(1885), and then practiced law
for a year after studying at the Law
Faculty
of Barcelona. He entered the Seminary of Tarragona
in 1895, and was ordained
to the priesthood
on September 17, 1899. On September 24, 1900, Vidal obtained his doctorate in law
from the University of Madrid
. He sought to join the Society of Jesus
, more commonly known as the Jesuits, but his father asked Francisco to finish a career first.
Vidal then did pastoral
work in Tarragona, as well as serving as fiscal (1905), provisor and acting vicar general
(1905–1909) in its archdiocesan
curia
. He was a canon
of Tarragona's cathedral
chapter
from 1907 to 1913, vicar general from 1909 to 1913, archpriest
in 1910, and vicar capitular
from October 1911 until his promotion to the episcopate
.
On November 10, 1913, Vidal was appointed Apostolic Administrator
of Solsona
and Titular Bishop
of Pentacomia. He received his episcopal consecration
on April 26, 1914 from Archbishop Antolín López Peláez, with Bishops Ramón Barberá y Boada and Ramón Guillamet y Coma serving as co-consecrators
, in the cathedral of Tarragona. He was Senator
of the Spanish kingdom for the province of Tarragona
from 1914 to 1916, and renounced the mitre
of Cádiz
to help calm the political and social tensions of Catalonia
. Vidal was later Archbishop of Tarragona on May 7, 1919.
Pope Benedict XV
created him Cardinal Priest
of Santa Sabina
in the consistory
of March 7, 1921. Vidal was one of the cardinal electors
in the 1922 papal conclave, which selected Pope Pius XI
, and later rejected Pope Pius's offer of the primatial
see of Toledo. He also refused appointments to Zaragoza
and to the Roman Curia
. Following the Republican government
's exile of Cardinal Pedro Segura y Sáenz
, Vidal became the leading prelate of the Spanish Church
. He made fruitless attempts to mitigate the dispositions of the constitutional project which affected the rights of the Church, and to have the Vatican
accept Luis Zulueta y Escolano as its Spanish ambassador
.
, Vidal remained in a position of neutrality
, unlike the majority of the Spanish bishops, who supported Generalissimo Franco
. When the Revolution of 1936
broke out, the Cardinal found his life in danger and fled to Poblet
, Barcelona
, and then the Carthusian
monastery
of Farneta in Lucca
, Italy
. After the death of Pius XI, he participated
in the conclave of 1939
, which resulted in the election of Pope Pius XII
. However, the Cardinal's Catalonia
nism, good relations with the Republican authorities of Catalonia, and his refusal to sign the joint letter of the Spanish episcopate during the civil war caused Generalissimo Franco to forbid him from returning to his archdiocese
in the Cardinal's lifetime; he nevertheless refused to renounce his post. Pius XII was outraged to hear that Franco desired to send Vidal, as a man hostile to Franco's regime, into exile.
Franco lifted his ban on Vidal in 1941, after he and the Vatican reached a concordat
. However, the Cardinal remained in Italy, and in 1943, the German
occupation of Italy
forced him to move to Switzerland
.
Vidal was an enthusiastic champion of collegiality
and Catholic Action
.
Cardinal Vidal died in Fribourg
, at the age of 74. He was initially buried at a Carthusian monastery in Valsainte, but his remains were transferred, in accord with his will, to Tarragona in May 1978. Vidal is buried beside his former auxiliary
, Bishop Manuel Borràs, who was assassinated during the civil war while Vidal was in exile.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
who served as Archbishop of Tarragona from 1919 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
in 1921.
He famously refused to sign the 1937 Collective Letter in which the Spanish Church's hierarchy gave their support to Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's forces, and died in exile in Switzerland.
Biography
Born in CambrilsCambrils
Cambrils is a coastal town in the comarca of Baix Camp, province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The town is nearby the tourist town, Salou and is frequently visited by those travelling by air using Reus Airport and major transport links such as the Plana Bus and the RENFE.-History:-Roman empire...
to a family of rural landowners and liberal professionals, Francisco Vidal y Barraquer attended the Colegio San Ignacio in Manresa
Manresa
Manresa is the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographic centre of Catalonia, Spain, and crossed by the river Cardener. It is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged around the basilica of Santa María de la Seo....
(1880–1885), earned his bachillerato
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
at the seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
(1885), and then practiced law
Practice of law
In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professional services of a lawyer or attorney at law, barrister,...
for a year after studying at the Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
Faculty
Faculty (university)
A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...
of Barcelona. He entered the Seminary of Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
in 1895, and was ordained
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
to the priesthood
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
on September 17, 1899. On September 24, 1900, Vidal obtained his doctorate in law
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from the University of Madrid
Complutense University of Madrid
The Complutense University of Madrid is a university in Madrid, and one of the oldest universities in the world. It is located on a sprawling campus that occupies the entirety of the Ciudad Universitaria district of Madrid, with annexes in the district of Somosaguas in the neighboring city of...
. He sought to join the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, more commonly known as the Jesuits, but his father asked Francisco to finish a career first.
Vidal then did pastoral
Parish (Catholic Church)
In the Roman Catholic Church, a parish is the lowest ecclesiastical geographical subdivision: from ecclesiastical province to diocese to deanery to parish.-Requirements:A parish needs two things under common law to become a parish...
work in Tarragona, as well as serving as fiscal (1905), provisor and acting vicar general
Vicar general
A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...
(1905–1909) in its archdiocesan
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
curia
Curia (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholicism, a curia consists of a group of officials who assist in the governance of a particular Church. These curias range from the relatively simple diocesan curia, to the larger patriarchal curias, to the Roman Curia, which is the central government of the Catholic Church.Other...
. He was a canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
of Tarragona's cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
chapter
Chapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....
from 1907 to 1913, vicar general from 1909 to 1913, archpriest
Archpriest
An archpriest is a priest with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches, although it may be used in the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church instead of dean or vicar forane.In the 16th and 17th centuries, during...
in 1910, and vicar capitular
Vicar capitular
A diocesan administrator is a provisional ordinary of a Roman Catholic particular church. The college of consultors elects an administrator within eight days after the see is known to be vacant. The college must elect as administrator a priest or bishop at least 35 years old...
from October 1911 until his promotion to the episcopate
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
.
On November 10, 1913, Vidal was appointed Apostolic Administrator
Apostolic Administrator
An apostolic administrator in the Roman Catholic Church is a prelate appointed by the Pope to serve as the ordinary for an apostolic administration...
of Solsona
Solsona, Lleida
Solsona is a municipality and capital of the comarca of the Solsonès in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the centre of the comarca in the Central Catalan Depression. It is served by the C-55 road to Manresa, and is linked to Berga and Bassella by the C-26.The old town is known as the Clos antic...
and Titular Bishop
Titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place...
of Pentacomia. He received his episcopal consecration
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
on April 26, 1914 from Archbishop Antolín López Peláez, with Bishops Ramón Barberá y Boada and Ramón Guillamet y Coma serving as co-consecrators
Consecrator
Consecrator is a term used in the Roman Catholic Church to designate a bishop who ordains a priest to the episcopal state. The term is often used in Eastern Rite Churches and in Anglican communities. The term "Principal Consecrator" is used to designate the primary bishop who ordains a new bishop...
, in the cathedral of Tarragona. He was Senator
Spanish Senate
The Senate of Spain is the upper house of Spain's parliament, the . It is made up of 264 members: 208 elected by popular vote, and 56 appointed by the regional legislatures. All senators serve four-year terms, though regional legislatures may recall their appointees at any time.The last election...
of the Spanish kingdom for the province of Tarragona
Tarragona (province)
Tarragona is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered by the provinces of Castellón, Teruel, Zaragoza, Lleida, Barcelona, and the Mediterranean Sea....
from 1914 to 1916, and renounced the mitre
Mitre
The mitre , also spelled miter, is a type of headwear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of bishops and certain abbots in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, and also bishops and certain other clergy in the Eastern Orthodox...
of Cádiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
to help calm the political and social tensions of Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
. Vidal was later Archbishop of Tarragona on May 7, 1919.
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...
created him Cardinal Priest
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
of Santa Sabina
Santa Sabina
The Basilica of Saint Sabina at the Aventine is a titular minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Dominican order in Rome, Italy. Santa Sabina lies high on the Aventine Hill, beside the Tiber, close to the headquarters of theKnights of Malta....
in the consistory
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
of March 7, 1921. Vidal was one of the cardinal electors
Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 1922
The following were the cardinal electors in the 1922 papal conclave. Arranged by region , and within each alphabetically...
in the 1922 papal conclave, which selected Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
, and later rejected Pope Pius's offer of the primatial
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....
see of Toledo. He also refused appointments to Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
and to the Roman Curia
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
. Following the Republican government
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
's exile of Cardinal Pedro Segura y Sáenz
Pedro Segura y Sáenz
Pedro Segura y Sáenz was a Spanish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Toledo from 1927 to 1931, and Archbishop of Seville from 1937 until his death...
, Vidal became the leading prelate of the Spanish Church
Roman Catholicism in Spain
The Spanish Catholic Church, part of the global Roman Catholic Church, is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, curia in Rome, and the Conference of Spanish Bishops.-Statistics:...
. He made fruitless attempts to mitigate the dispositions of the constitutional project which affected the rights of the Church, and to have the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
accept Luis Zulueta y Escolano as its Spanish ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
.
Opposition to Franco
During the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, Vidal remained in a position of neutrality
Neutral country
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
, unlike the majority of the Spanish bishops, who supported Generalissimo Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
. When the Revolution of 1936
Spanish Revolution
The Spanish Revolution was a workers' social revolution that began during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and resulted in the widespread implementation of anarchist and more broadly libertarian socialist organizational principles throughout various portions of the country for two to...
broke out, the Cardinal found his life in danger and fled to Poblet
Poblet Monastery
The Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1151, located at the feet of the Prades Mountains, in the comarca of Conca de Barberà, in Catalonia . It was founded by Cistercian monks from France on lands conquered from the Moors...
, Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, and then the Carthusian
Carthusian
The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St. Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics. The order was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns...
monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
of Farneta in Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. After the death of Pius XI, he participated
Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 1939
The following were the cardinal electors in the 1939 papal conclave. Arranged by region , and within each alphabetically...
in the conclave of 1939
Papal conclave, 1939
The Papal conclave of 1939 was convoked on the brink of World War II with the death of Pope Pius XI on 10 February that year in the Apostolic Palace. With all 62 living cardinals in attendance, the conclave to elect Pius' successor began on 1 March and ended a day later, on 2 March, after three...
, which resulted in the election of Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
. However, the Cardinal's Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
nism, good relations with the Republican authorities of Catalonia, and his refusal to sign the joint letter of the Spanish episcopate during the civil war caused Generalissimo Franco to forbid him from returning to his archdiocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
in the Cardinal's lifetime; he nevertheless refused to renounce his post. Pius XII was outraged to hear that Franco desired to send Vidal, as a man hostile to Franco's regime, into exile.
Franco lifted his ban on Vidal in 1941, after he and the Vatican reached a concordat
Concordat
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...
. However, the Cardinal remained in Italy, and in 1943, the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
occupation of Italy
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...
forced him to move to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Vidal was an enthusiastic champion of collegiality
Collegiality
Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues.Colleagues are those explicitly united in a common purpose and respecting each other's abilities to work toward that purpose...
and Catholic Action
Catholic Action
Catholic Action was the name of many groups of lay Catholics who were attempting to encourage a Catholic influence on society.They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries that fell under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Italy, Bavaria, France, and...
.
Cardinal Vidal died in Fribourg
Fribourg
Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
, at the age of 74. He was initially buried at a Carthusian monastery in Valsainte, but his remains were transferred, in accord with his will, to Tarragona in May 1978. Vidal is buried beside his former auxiliary
Auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
, Bishop Manuel Borràs, who was assassinated during the civil war while Vidal was in exile.