Objective/Context:

this article has the goal of analyzing the two pastoral letters published by the Basque episcopate in 1981 and 1982 against the autonomic policy of the Union of the Democratic Center (ucd) government and examines their repercussion in Spanish political parties, in the top national dailies and their impact outside of Spain as well. The first letter dealt with the relation between putschism and terrorism. The second expressed a radical opposition to the Organic Law on the Harmonization of the Autonomy Process (loapa) jointly promoted by the executive and the Socialist opposition.

Methodology:

the methodology is based on a qualitative content analysis of the written press and in the study of archival sources.

Originality:

the text reviews two documents that have not been analyzed in a monographic fashion despite existing studies about Catholic Church and Basque terrorism. The national and international political and media controversy unleashed by their publication sheds novel insight on the difficulties the last President of the ucd Government, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, faced in articulating the new State of Autonomies amid the Etarra terrorist escalation.

Conclusions:

the main findings reveal that the bishops' discourse, in tune with Basque nationalism, shows the division that eta had produced inside Basque and Spanish society and highlights the difficulty in articulating a unified discourse against terror.

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