Religious practices and activities in the private schools in the Basque Country during the Twentieth Century

Abstract

The presence of schools ruled by religious orders and congregations in the Basque Country throughout the twentieth century is a known phenomenon. What is less known are the kinds of activities religious practices carried out in these schools. The objective of this collaboration is to analyse this situation, with a focus on two aspects: 1) the religious activities and, 2) the extracurricular religious activities. The first of these were carried out within the schools (liturgical acts, masses, rosaries, etc.). They were the rituals by
which the student body could live spiritually through the religious teaching linked to catechism, religious education, the gospel or sacred history. The extracurricular activities were related to religious associations which were used for carrying out certain apostolic actions. Many of these activities served to recruit religious vocations or to involve the youth in Catholic Action. In the 1970s, these activities diminished and evolved. As an example of this process, which was extended to the majority of the schools, we have focused on the De La Salle schools in the Basque Country. A historical methodology has been applied to the diverse sources that have been analysed (photographs, archival documentation, etc.). The documentary corpus comes from the files and museums of De La Salle Brothers. We can conclude that during Franco’s regime, under which the teaching of the Catholic religion played an important role, the practice of these activities increased.