The Boy Scouts in Spain (1913-1915): Distrust and Divisions in Spanish Episcopacy

Abstract

This article presents documentation related to the origins of the scout movement in Spain, specifically a record from the Apostolic Nunciature of Madrid during the mandate of Nuncio Francesco Ragonesi (1913-1921). The documentation was found in the Vatican Secret Archives. The collection comprises eight documents sent to the Nunciature, three of which are letters (one from the Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo and two from the Archbishops of Granada and Valladolid); notes (draft replies to the Archbishop of Granada) from the Apostolic Nuncio; three documents from Teodoro Iradier, Scout Commissioner for Spain and, finally, a dispatch from Francisco Garcia Molinas regarding the 1914 National Assembly Programme. The records of the Apostolic Nunciature of Madrid are supplemented by 14 press cuttings. The controversy arose from the lack of trust amongst certain bishops with regard to the pedagogical approach of the Scouts, in a context where the Spanish ecclesiastical hierarchy supported confessionalism in social and educational work. Scouting was accused of being both Krausist and Regenerationist, i.e. part of the ‘neutral school’ network in Spain that was equivalent to the secular school system in France. The debate was not made public until the National Assembly of Explorers in 1915

Keywords: Scouts in Spain, Catholicism, education, neutral school, Regenerationism.