The Vatican has explained that it won't oppose the exhumation of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, if the competent authorities should decide to go ahead with it, nor will they comment on where his remains should be reinterred, according to Vatican spokesperson Greg Burke. The Holy See issued the clarification after, this morning, the Spanish deputy prime minister said that the government and the church had agreed that Franco wouldn't be moved to the Almudena cathedral in the heart of Madrid, as his family wish.
In a statement, they say that in yesterday's meeting between the Vatican secretary of state, cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Spanish deputy prime minister, Carmen Calvo, "it's true" that she "expressed her concern for his possible burial in Almudena cathedral and her desire to explore other alternatives, including through dialogue with the family". "This solution seemed appropriate to the cardinal secretary of state", Burke said, adding that "cardinal Pietro Parolin doesn't oppose the exhumation of Francisco Franco, if the competent authorities should decide upon that, but at no time did he comment on the site of exhumation".
Parolin and Calvo met on Monday in the Vatican. One of the topics under discussion was the exhumation of Franco, buried since his death in 1975 in the Valle de los Caídos. The Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) was set up by Franco near Madrid to bury and honour the dead from both sides of the Spanish Civil War. Because of questions over the labour force which built the complex, Franco himself being buried in the basilica and the site receiving government funding it has become a focus of considerable controversy in Spain.
Not the Almudena
Calvo said today, in the passages of the Spanish Congress, that Pedro Sánchez's government and the Catholic Church are looking for the way for the dictator to not be buried in Almudena cathedral, in the heart of the capital. "We agreed together to find a solution, which obviously cannot be the Almudena," she said.
The government announced its intention to exhume the dictator last summer, sparking controversy as to where his remains should be moved to instead. Franco's family, which opposes the exhumation as an "imposition" from the state, expressed its intention to rebury him in Madrid's Almudena cathedral. That option has been opposed by various groups, believing that it could turn a central, well-known location in the capital into a pilgrimage site for Franco supporters from around Spain, or even fascists from around Europe.
Calvo has today highlighted that she has the support of the cardinal archbishop of Madrid, Carlos Osoro, who "already said the other day that [the choice of Almudena] doesn't seem good to them". She also added that "the place where the remains have to lie has to be a space where there cannot be situations of glorification or homage". She ended by stating that the government "has tools" to enable this to happen.