Revista de Derecho Político (Dec 2017)
El artículo 16 de la Constitución en su concepción y desarrollo: cuarenta años de laicidad y libertad religiosa // The meaning and scope of article 16 of the Spanish Constitution: fourty years of religious freedom and non-establishment of religion
Abstract
Resumen: En este trabajo se realiza un balance y examen global del desarrollo que ha experimentado el llamado sistema de relaciones Iglesia-Estado en España en las cuatro décadas de vigencia de la Constitución de 1978, prestando una especial atención a las razones de fondo que llevaron al constituyente a incluir una referencia en él a la cooperación con la Iglesia católica y las demás confesiones así como a la consecuencias que ha tenido el hecho de que las relaciones con aquella estuviesen ya configuradas concordatariamente en el momento en el que fue aprobada la Constitución. En este contexto general, se exponen las principales claves de interpretación del actual régimen de la libertad religiosa en España, del estatuto de las entidades religiosas y del subsistema conformado por el contenido de los acuerdos de cooperación suscritos por el Estado con las confesiones religiosas. Summary: I. Introduction. 2. The constitutional framework on Church and State and its historical, political and sociological background. 3. Controversial aspects concerning the legal development of religious freedom and the legal status of religious denominations. 4. Constitution and agreements between the State and religious denominations. 5. Concluding remarks: the unfinished process os disestablishment of religion in Spanish law and the main proposals of reform in this field. Abstract: In this paper the author conducts an overview of the relations between Church and State in Spain and how they have evolved since the promulgation of the 1978 Constitution; to this regard, special consideration is given to the fact that the relations between the Catholic Church and the State were already predetermined by the existence of certain agreements that were elaborated even before the Constitution came into force, a fact that has had significant consequences in the development of this particular field of law. Further consideration is also given to the current legal status of religious freedom in Spain and to the legal position of religious organizations in this country, including some remarks focused on the content of the current agreements signed by the State with some of the so called minority religious denominations.
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