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The news, editorials and articles in magazines like America or The Commonweal can give insight into the public opinion of United States Catholics towards Francoist Spain during the complex context of World War II. America took a fairly pro-Franco stance, while The Commonweal's approach was more critical. Both publications hoped that Spanish Catholicism would curb Nazi influence, while the Church would promote a process of democratization in Spain deemed unavoidable following the defeat of the Axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Christian Century, an American Protestant magazine of religious news, paid detailed attention to the situation of the Spanish Protestant minority under the denominationally Catholic Franco's dictatorship. The lack of religious freedom was one of the most relevant and troublesome aspects of the bilateral relation between Spain and the United States in the Cold War historical framework. In this paper the time immediately before the signature of the agreements is considered. It was a historical moment in which the Franco regime was getting rid step by step of its ostracism, but it was not yet integrated in the U.S.-led global strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debate about religious freedom is a very relevant issue for understanding the so-called Two Spains conflict. It was not a practical problem in the sense that never there was a sizable population in Spain who professed religions other than Catholic. It was above all an argument about the very foundations of the Spanish political community that confronted supporters of individual liberty to an idea of an essentially Catholic nation. The story is organized in six phases: 1812-1854, 1854-1868, 1868-1876, 1876-1931, 1931-1936 and 1936-1976. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]