A decade later - Fundação Luso-Americana

France. The period of the constitutional
monarchy had demonstrated a degree of
openness, with article 6 of the Constitutional
Charter allowing foreigners to practice
other religions as long as their places of
worship did not resemble temples. The
1910 Revolution, however, introduced the
concept of the secular state and laicism, in
effect putting an end to the confessional
state and instituting religious freedom by
means of the law separating church and
state.
In Portugal, the anti-clericalism of the
republicans clashed with a Catholic Church
– still shaken by the annexation of the
Pontificate States and by the laicism of the
3 rd French Republic – but dogmatic nonetheless
and obdurate to republican ideals
and institutions to a degree that later on,
many Portuguese Catholics refused to take
part in republican institutions (though this
was not the way Salazar saw it).
“After April 25, 1974 we find not only
political protagonists who had learned the
lessons of the 1 st Republic, but a Catholic
Church that is totally different, a result of
Vatican II, more receptive to understanding
democratic principles and the separation of
church and state.” As Prof. Medeiros Ferreira
reminded the audience, Pope Benedict XVI
praised the separation of church and state
when he visited Portugal.
‘ The united states was the first country
to set up a modern republic and the
first system separating church from
state, which was “very important
because it contradicted the idea that
there had to be a state religion.”
’
A FronTrunner,
LiKe THe 25 TH oF ApriL
Yet even though the topic is important in
the birth of the Portuguese Republic – it
was, in modern terms a “divisive issue
– Medeiros Ferreira believes we must “discuss
the Republic without placing the
religious issue at the center of the debate.”
In Ferreira’s opinion, there are factors
involved that have received little attention
because historiographers and analysts have
fixated on the relations between church
and state and on the political instability
of the times. “These two issues have totally
monopolized the analytical agenda
when it comes to the 1 st Republic.”
poLicy
“in reality, the portuguese republic would carry on – by itself – until 1917, on a continent that
was markedly monarchic and even imperial,” stated medeiros Ferreira.
“It would also be worthwhile to focus
on other issues that have gotten buried,”
Ferreira observes, such as “the pioneering
nature of the Portuguese Republican
Revolution in the context of Europe.” He
explains his outlook in
these terms: “We always
like to say that the 25 th of
April Revolution was the
precursor to the demise of
the other dictatorships in
Europe and South America.
This is true; but the
Republic was also pioneering
in that it fostered the
dissemination of republican
regimes in post-World
War I Europe” at a time
when only France and
Switzerland were republics.
“But even so, it is safe to say that the
Portuguese Republic did not come about
by induction or because of external forces.”
Ferreira stresses that “in reality, the
Portuguese Republic would carry on – by
itself – until 1917, on a continent that was
markedly monarchic and even imperial.”
The second point the professor stresses
is the modernization program of the
Republic. “Once the Republic is in place
we witness the growth of the functions of
a liberal state. It’s the state operating on the
ground.” New public services spring up
such as the civil registry, public education,
compulsory military service and a new
philosophy centered on participation.
Thirdly, Medeiros Ferreira stresses the singularity
of the Portuguese Republican Party
which was different and unique in that it
favored electoral tactics over insurrectional
tactics. “No party at the time (and I’m
talking in European terms) took power like
the PRP did, with weapons, by force.” It
wasn’t exactly a Bolshevist party but it
wasn’t a classical parliamentary party either
like the parties of the 3 rd Republic. It was
an electoralist party of the masses… but
insurrectional at the same time.
Parallel no. 6 | FALL | WINTER 2011 39
RUI OChÔA