Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6 — The. Georgia Bulletin, December 24, 1970
Background Of Basque Trial In Spain
By Jaime Fanseca
When 16 Basque
defendants burst into singing
an old fighting anthem at their
court-martial for subversion in
Burgos, Spain, they evoked a
generations-long drama of a
proud people struggling for
autonomy.
Two of the military judges
drew their sabers as a
22-year-old bank clerk,
accused in the murder of a
secret policeman, rushed to
the bench. The judges
reflected the predicament of
the Spanish regime: on the
defensive, even if it does hold
power.
The Basque conflict over
autonomy has widespread
effects well beyond the
red-brick barracks serving as
courtroom.
The prosecution has
stressed the defendants’
alleged crimes as members of
ETA ( Euzkadi Ta
Askatasuna), a clandestine
organization fighting under
the slogan of “Basque, Your
Freedom.”
In turn, the defense lawyers
and the defendants used every
occasion to put the police on
trial by describing tortures
they said were inflicted on the
Basque prisoners, and by using
the trial as a forum for the
Basque separatist cause against
the centralist powers of the
Franco regime .
Bilbao, San Sebastian and
other Basque centers went
into demonstrations and
strikes.
The issue has flared
elsewhere as other opposition
groups, underground or in the
open, took advantage of the
Basque rebellion to stage
sit-ins, strikes and
demonstrations in Madrid,
Barcelona, Granada and other
cities.
The bank clerk, Mario
Onaindia Nachiondo, for
whom the prosecutor asked
the death penalty, was cut
short by the chief judge when
he tried to explain his
motivations for joining ETA.
“Long live the Basque
country!”- Onaindia shouted,
rushing toward the judge. The
other 15 Basques- two priests
among them - stood up,
manacled, to sing the ETA
anthem.
The trial climaxed several
years of violence - terrorism
by Basque groups, Countered
by harsh repression from the
government. The central point
at the trial was the August
1968 killing atlrunofMeliton
Manzanas. Since then some
2,000 arrests have been made
by the police, and at least 150
citizens - including priests -
have been brought before
military or civilian courts.
Most of them belong to ETA.
The kidnaping of West
German consul, Eugen Beihl in
San Sebastian * by an ETA
splinter Marxist group, as a
bargaining card for those on
trial at Burgos, was reproved
by the main leadership, which
had reportedly been engaged
in negotiating with
government contacts for
clemency for the defendants.
ETA itself split a decade
ago from the more moderate
Basque Nationalist Party,
founded in 1894 by patriot
Sabino de Arana Gori under
the motto “God and
Tradition.”
The Burgos trial also
climaxes, therefore, a long
fight going back more than a
century, in which one of
Europe’s most ancient,
mysterious people has
challenged any outside
interference in their own
sacred traditions.
The Basques, numbering
now some 2.5 million persons
who populate the western
foothills of the Pyrenees
around the Bay of Biscay, are
regarded as energetic, loyal
and honest. They are a people
of strong contrasts.
Living astride the
French-Spahish border made
them in the past professional
smugglers. Today it has helped
them in their clandestine
activities. Some 2.2 million are
in the four provinces of
Biscay, Guipuzcoa, Alava and
Navarre on the Spanish side,
while close to 300,000 are in
the French Basse Pyrenees, in
the localities of Labourd and
Soule.
The joy of their green, hilly
wooded land is reflected in
their dancing and singing -- and
so is much of their sadness and
aggressive attitudes as
descendants of a race long
tested by wars and other
tribulations.
While strongly
tradition-minded, the Basques
have no difficult^ in learning
French or Spanish language
and customs. Their own
Basque language, full of
gutural sounds, has baffled
linguists as to its origin. And
their type of blood and bone
structure is not to be found
elsewhere in Europe.
In missionary circles,
Basque priests are known for
their quick adaptation in such
remote language areas as Japan
or the Indian tribes in Central
Amejyca. Father Pedro
Arrupe, the Jesuit general,
went from his native Basque
area to Japan, where he
mastered the language and the
people’s culture during the
years before he was chosen to
lead the world’s Jesuits.
There are more contrasts.
While deeply attached to their
Catholic beliefs, their pagan
legends and witchcraft are
equally strong in much of their
daily life.
Devoted to small tract
agriculture'and pastures - they
make excellent shepherds -
tne basque have emerged as
the most productive industrial
force in the Iberian peninsula.
From their iron and coal mines
they have built such factory
hubs as Bilbao and the
industrial belt around San
Sebastian.
One of the strongest
Basque traditions is that of
family unity and inheritance.
The paternal homestead is not
divided at death but goes
intact to one of the
descendants. So strong is this
attachment to home and farm
that Often Basque family
heads are known by the name
of the place, not their own
surname.
Yet much tradtion is
responsible for the splitting of
families and the ensuing
massive migration of Basques,
as the disinherited sons and
daughters must seek their
fortune in other lands.
Migration is further fostered
by the enterprising, seagoing
nature of these people.
Here lies the reason for the
strong colonies of Basque in
North, Central and South
America. The states of
Nevada, California and Oregon
have a particularly heavy
influx of these migrants.
Perhaps close to one million in
the New World acknowledge
their Basque ancestry.
Migration has been a
weakening factor of
nationalism. As the Basque
lands thinned out there was a
strong influx of Spaniards
from the central and southern
provinces, attracted by higher
living in the Basque cities.
Politics has been another
adverse factor.
For instance, the province
of Navarre in the Southern
edge' of the region shows
strong influences from
neighboring Castilla and
Eurgos. On occasions it has
split with the rest, such as
during the Spanish civil war of
1936-39. At that time Navarre
fought on the side of Franco
and provided the fiery
“Requete” troops.
But Biscay, Guipuzcoa and
Alava aided the Republican
socialists,. who had promised
leaders there to restore Basque
autonomy. It was enough
to lessen the impact on this
Catholic people of the
socialists’ anti-Church drive.
During the civil war,
German planes, said to have
been supporting Franco’s
Nationalists, bombed out the
town of Guernica and its
sacred tree, where Basque
clans always gathered for their
traditional celebrations. The
destruction was never
forgotten. An ETA extremist
said Beihl was chosen for the
kidnaping because “the
Germans never showed
compassion for the families of
the 7,000 victims of 1
Guernica.”
The three northernmost
provinces lost their war along
with the Republicans, and the
post civil war period was
marked by harsh restrictions
by the franco government on
Basque autonomy, including
the use of Basque language in
schools and periodicals. A
June 1937 decree allowing a
brief period of Basque
independence was erased.
Separatist groups begun their
drives, broadcast to the
outside world by a
government in exile
headquartered in Paris.
It was the second defeat for
the Basques in exactly a
century. After supporting the
cause of Don Carlos, a
contender to the Spanish
throne who also had promised
to defend Basque “fueros”
(rights), they had to accept a
repressive peace signed in
1839. At the time British and
French interests were in
conflict over the Spanish
throne, and it helped to defeat
the“Carlistas.”
There are other regional
campaigns in Spain, against
the central power of Madrid,
such as the movements in
Catalonia and Galicia. But
none as explosive as the
Basque drive, whose leaders
claim their ancestors defeated
invaders as early as 778, when
they cut Charlemagne’s army
to piecesat Roncesvalles.
At the San Sebastian
industrial suburb of Eibar a
crowd of 40,000 stood in the
streets to watch the funeral
cortage of a youth, Roberto
Perez Jauregui, fatally
wounded by police during the
trial protest demonstrations.
/And in San Sebastian itself
few weeks earlier, a Basque
nationalist, Joseva Elosgui, 53,
threw himself aflame at the
feet of General Francisco
Franco crying out “Gora
Euzkadi Askatazuna,” (long
live freedom in the Basque
country). Franco was there for
a sports event. The
self-imolation victim was
rushed to a,hospital.
Both sides, the government
and the Basques, are
convinced the Burgos trial will
have a lasting impact on their
causes.
Franco aides seem to be
oscilating between firearms
and caution, with the trial
having polarized the
opposition.
Basque leaders have
indicated they must redefine
goals and tactics. Under the
hardships of clandestine
action, ETA has developed a
complex system of political
units separated from
para-military commandos of
three or four men, with little
direct communication.
The extremists fight for a
socialist independent republic
and use terrorist tactics, while
the moderates - in and out of
ETA -- seek to regain
autonomy and respect for
their traditions through
passive resistance.
Y ardstick—
(Continued from Page 4)‘
willing to give,substantial odds that they will.
In short, I agree with the Washington Post
which editorialized about the CCC as follows on
Dec. 9: “The ethnics seek power not to back a
Wallace or an Agnew figure, or to advance the
so-called hard-hat philosophy, but for social
reform'They how see only too clearly that the
poor and the blacks are allies, not enemies, and
that the real foes are unresponsive institutions
that exploit ethnics as cruelly as other minorities
are exploited .. .The CCC is a sign that the
exploitation days are coming to an end, as they
should be.”
Msgr. Baroni has reason to be proud of what
he and his associates in the ethnic movement
have accomplished in bringing the CCC into
existence. Let’s hope that his liberal critics will
take another look at this development and begin
to give credit where credit is due instead of
pretending that they and they alone have the
answer to the terrible evil of white racism in the
United States.
BASQUE FARMER: Heir to a rugged past, this Basque farmer in
Guipuzoca province - now understate of emergency - typifies the
struggle for freedom and selfgovernment the Basque people
brought to a climax at the court martial in Burgos of 16 Basque
separatists. (NC PHOTO)
Board Affirms Rejection Of Funds
(Continued from Page 1)
me new board’s president,
lawyer Charles P. Hammock
of Philadelphia, said that the
NOBC rejection of the money
was based on concern with
what the allocation
represented as well as
dissatisfaction with the
amount.
In a letter to Bishop
Joseph L. Bernardin, general
secretary of the National
Conference of ' Catholic
Bishops (NCCB) and the U.S.
Catholic Conference (USCC),
Hammock accused the
Church of paternalism in its
dealings with black Catholics.
“We are fully aware that
various dioceses allocate
money to assist black parishes
and schools and sponsor some
programs ... what' cannot be
overlooked is the
paternalistic, patronizing way
in which these totally
white-controlled funds are
handled,” Hammock said.
“The very activities you
point to as evidence of the
•Church's concern for black
people continue to
systematically inflict upon
black people and others a
psychology of their own
poverty, helplessness and
dependency.
“We are the victims of the
manifest need of white
Catholics and the hierarchy
to have identifiable outlets by
which 1 to exercise their
charity and prove their very
liberal concern for the poor
and the neglected.”
During a press conference
called to announce the NOBC
board decision,
representatives of the black
coalition leveled even
stronger accusations against
the Church and the role it has
played in black development.
Sister Martin de Porres
Grey, head of the National
Black Sisters’ Conference,
told newsmen that Church
action to close schools,
ostensibly because of
financial pressures, amounts
to a form of genocide against
blacks.
Sister M. Shawn Copeland,
of Detroit supported Sister
Martin de Porres. “The
Church has tried to convert
blacks to whiteness.
Consequently, mental and
physical harm has been
caused to black people,” she
charged.
As a result,' press
conference panelists, said,
Black Catholics are moving
more and more to take
control of their own destiny.
Marianist Brother Joseph
M. Davis, NOBC executive
director, announced that
board members--besides
rejectihg the money offered
them by the NCCB-discussed
four other topics.
They agreed to study
proposals for state and
federal aid to Catholic
schools and to fight such
proposals if they tended to
perpetuate the segregation of
Catholic schools.
According to Brother
Davis, the nation’s Catholic
schools have been and are
segregated. Any federal funds
that enable them to survive
their present financial crisis
will only continue the
segregation, he claimed.
At the same time, board
members urged an
investigation of the treatment
of black students in Ca'tholic
schools at all levels.
Philadelphia, where several
race-related incidents have
taken place in Catholic high
schools, was chosen to be the
first city to have its schools
investigated.
In a related move, the
board gave unanimous
endorsement to Detroit’s
Concerned Christians, a group
of blacks who seized two
Catholic - churches in black
neighborhoods to protest
closure of black schools.
“The board' viewed the
Detroit t action as an
expression of liberation. We
can look forward to the same
thing happening in many
other cities as well,” Brother
Davis said.
Joseph Dulin, a leader in
the Detroit seizures and one
of the members of the press
panel, promised that more
seizures would take place
across the country. He
declined to say where.
Questions and answers
between the press panel and
newsmen revolved around the
problems facing the
organization’s finances.
Originally, the NOBC'
requested $659,000 from the
nation’s bishops. The
bishops-caught in a financial
squeeze-offered $150,000
and specified that even that
would be a one-time-only
grant.
Without the bishops’
rejected funds, the NOBC
appears to have no visible
means of support. However,
Brother Davis assured
reporters that the office did
have an income. He did not
say where the money was
coming from or explain why
aid sources could not be
revealed.
Sister Martin de Porres
challenged reporters for
pressing the money question.
“We’re not talking about
money, we’re talking about
people. This is the black
revolution,” she commented.
BROTHER JOSEPH DAVIS, S.M., head of the National Office for Black Catholics, tells newsmen at
‘he National Press Club that his organization will not accept any money from the nation’s Catholic
:ps.(NC PHOTO)
Worship And
The World
BY FATHER JOSEPH
M. CHAMPLIN
A BAD PRESS
The Church quite often,
liturgically speaking, receives
bad press coverage in Rome.
When the Holy See issues a
new decree or a revised ritual,
first reports always seem to
pick out for emphasis the
negative or sensational
elements in these directives.
Since back home in Indiana
the local media base their
stories on information
originating in Italy, they tend
to reiterate the intitial
message. Ultimately this
causes confusion for all,
consternation for some, and
satisfaction for others.
It makes little difference
whether the interested party
reads an Associated Press
article in the South Bend
Tribune or watches Walter
Cronkite over a Fort Wayne
television station or listens to
network news on his car
radio. Every reader, watcher,
listener receives the same
impression - Pope Paul has
prohibited this, the Church
has censored that, Vatican
liturgists have introduced
another bizarre change. Those
of us in the liturgical
education field than spend
months trying to correct false
notions and to convey
accurate details. A few
illustrations should prove my
point.
Report: “The Vatican
today dropped many saints,
including the vulnerable St.
Christopher who has long
been revered by millions as
their special patron for a safe
journey.”
Fact: The renewed general
Church calendar, following
guidelines from Vatican II,
stresses the Sunday
celebration, the mysteries of
Jesus, and includes only
saints of universal interest. It
does remove from obligatory
observance on the
international level a large
number of individuals.
However, the decree leaves to
a specific diocese or country
and to private devotion the
honoring of those holy
persons whose appeal is
limited (Mother Cabrini) or
whose historical roots are
difficult to verify (St.
Christopher).
Report: “The Pope has
just announced a new Order
of the Mass which brings to a
close the period of liturgical
reform and means an end to
further changes in Catholic
worship.”
Fact: Pope Paul actually
said: “There is room in the
new Missal, according to the
decree of the Second Vatican
Council, ‘for legitimate
variations and adapations,’
but we hope that it will be
received by the faithful as a
help and witness to the
common unity of all.” Only
months later the bishops in
India and Japan, for example,
sought ahd received
authorization to introduce
substantial alterations in Paul
Vi’s Order of Mass.
Report: ‘‘Liturgy
instruction discourages jazz in
church.”
Fact: A section from the
Third Instruction on the
Proper Implementation of the
Constitution on the Sacred
Liturgy (September 5, 1970)
reads: “All means must be
used to promote singing by
the people. New forms should
be used which are adapted to
the different mentalities and
to modern tastes .. .The
Church does not exclude any
kind of sacred music from the
liturgy. However, not every
type of music, song or
instrument is equally capable
of stimulating prayer or
expressing the mystery of
Christ.. .It is the duty of the
Bishops’ Conferences to lay
down guidelines, or, in the
absence of general norms, the
local bishops may make these
for their dioceses.”
Report: “Church prohibits
home Masses.”
Fact: This Third
Instruction states: “The
Eucharist is normally
celebrated in church.” The
next sentence, however,
indicates that within his
diocese the bishop “will
decide When there is real
necessity which permits
celebrating outside the
church,” The Bishops’
Committee on the Liturgy for
the United States approved
(February 1967) a statement
on Masses in the home,
encouraging them as a means
to promote the sense of
closeness or community
which should prevail even in
larger, 1 more diverse Sunday
parish settings. I would
estimate that most American
Bishops, including those of
quite conservative
temperaments, have for
several years permitted and,
more, pushed programs for
home eucharistic liturgies.
The spiritual and teaching
value' of such experiences is
this obvious.
Report: “Future liturgy
experimentation curtailed.”
Fact: We will treat this
wider and important issue in
a future column.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What obligations does
the press have concerning
liturgical changes?
2. What recent liturgical
changes have taken place that
have received poor press
coverage?
Scripture—
(Continued from Page 5)
When I read in Chapter 13
that “love does not keep a
record of wrongs” (Today’s
English Version), I find myself
hoping that this phrase of the
Scriptures will be remembered
by the Lord Jesus when he
returns as judge of the living
and the dead. My pastoral
experience reminds me here,
by the way, that women,
especially married women,
need this phrase of the Bible
more than anything else after
the grace of God.
The love that Paul talks
about is love of- one’s
neighbor. His basic reason why
we should love one another as
we shall see, is that the Son of
God loved us enough to die for
us. I’ve often thought that the
most wondrous part of
Christ’s love for us was his
becoming man, being bom in
the human conditions,
becoming one of us. After
that, really, death of some
kind is logical; it is part of the
condition. The point, in
Christmas terms, is that he was
conceived and born for us, and
his destiny was to die for us.
It will help, I think, to look
at something Paul wrote a
little later, in the Letter to the
Philippians, 2:1-5: “If our life
in Christ means anything to
you, if love can persuade at all,
or the Spirit that we have in
common, or any tenderness
and sympathy, then be united
in your convictions and united
in your love, with a common
purpose and a common mind.
That is the one thing which
would make me completely
happy. There must bd no
competition among you, no
conceit; but everybody is to be
self-effacing. Always consider
the other person to be better
than yourself, so that nobody
thinks of his own interests first
but everybody thinks of other
people interests instead. In
your minds you must be the
same as Christ Jesus.”
(Jerusalem Bible) Please look
'it up and read the next six
verses to get the rest of the
message.
DISCUSSION QUESIONS:
1. Why is Chapter 13 of
Paul’s First Letter to the
Corinthians called his most
beautiful work?
2. Inwvhat way is Chapter
13 of 1 Corinthians
instructive?