Word: aranzazu
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Dates: during 1952-1952
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Last week hundreds of Basque parish priests gathered for devotions and conferences at the mountain shrine of Our Lady of Aranzazu, by tradition the patroness of the Basque nation. For more than 500 years Aranzazu's monastery has been a wellspring of Basque culture. It remains so today. Its 128 cloistered Franciscan friars are outside the jurisdiction of the Spanish bishops. Although armed civil guardsmen are posted around their monastery, Franco's government has never dared to invade...
...Basque consciousness of their people, as well as certain moral freedoms generally overlooked in the rest of Spain. A year ago, during serious anti-government strikes in the Basque provinces, Spanish bishops were warning priests to tell the people that such striking was a mortal sin. One of Aranzazu's Franciscans, speaking from the pulpit, countered: "The right to strike without violence is a right granted by God as one of man's natural freedoms...
During last week's meetings with the monks of Aranzazu, pious Basque priests earnestly discussed how they might keep their old culture and religion from slipping away from the country. A few days later, they left the monastery to go down to their scattered parishes, their faith renewed by the monastery's support. Said one, caressing a small green, white and red ribbon (for the Basque national colors) pinned on his rough cassock: "While there is one Franciscan at the shrine of Our Lady of Aranzazu, the Basque culture will...