The Contemporary Form of Registering Religious Entities in Spain

Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes* I. PREAMBLE The subject of this work is intended to serve as a basis of reflection on the achievements and problems that registration of religious organizations currently pose in the administrative practice of the Spanish State. We do not try to pose doctrinal debates, but to advance the search for criteria that permit reconciling religious liberty and cultural values and traditions, following the guidelines of the new legal order inaugurated in Spain in 1978. It seems opportune to initiate this topic by explaining the previous fundamental set of rules that serve as a legal frame of reference for the existence of a Register of Religious Entities in the Spanish legal system.l The Spanish Constitution of 1978 represented a substantial change in previous religious policy. Thus from a traditionally religious State has evolved a pluralist, non-confessional State, which, in Article 1 of the Constitution, consecrates liberty, equality, and pluralism as fundamental values.2 These values, applied to religious phenomena, are the specific inspiration of the principles of freedom, equality, and religious pluralism in accordance with the provisions of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. Article 16 of the Spanish Constitution became the axis or model for the relations that the State maintains with the individual and with religions. First, "ideological, religious freedom and freedom of worship of individuals and communities are guaranteed with no further limitations on religious manifestations than those necessary to maintain public order as protected by law." Second, as a result of the above, "no one shall be forced to state their ideology, religion or beliefs." Third, the Constitution states that "no religion shall have state character." Despite the separation between religious confessions and the State, "public authorities shall bear in mind the religious beliefs of Spanish society and shall maintain the resulting relationship of cooperation with the Catholic Church and the other religions."3 In order to comply with this principle of cooperation or collaboration, public authorities may sign agreements with religious confessions. In doing so, the State signed agreements on January 3, 1979 with the Holy See agreements which follow the path of international treaties addressed in Articles 93 and 96 of the Spanish Constitution. For the purpose of guaranteeing and making effective the fundamental right of religious freedom, Organic Act 7/1980, dated July 5, 1980, on Religious Freedom,4 was published. Article 7 of this law develops the possibility of agreements with other religions. In this sense, the law establishes that, "the State, bearing in mind the religious beliefs existing in Spanish society, shall establish, where appropriate, Agreements and Accords of cooperation with those Churches, religious Denominations and communities inscribed in the Register which, because of their scope and number of faithful, are deeply rooted in Spain. In any case, these agreements shall be approved by law in Congress."5 In fulfillment of these provisions, on April 28, 1992, the Agreements of Cooperation between the State and the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain, the Federation of Israelite Communities of Spain, and the Islamic Commission of Spain were signed.s The signing of these agreements brings into existence a special law that guarantees, in a way that goes beyond ordinary law, the religious characteristics of each of these religions, as well as the rights of their members. The fundamental requirements that allow a religious organization to sign cooperative agreements with the State are basically three: (1) The religious entity shall be legally recognized through inscription in the Register of Religious Entities.7 (2) The inscribed religious entity shall be deeply rooted in Spain as indicated by its extent and number of faithful "notorio arraigo. …