José Bergamín's 'El Clavo Ardiente' Reissued: Catholic Republican's Radical Theology

The French translation of José Bergamín's 'El Clavo ardiente' has been reissued by Éditions les fondeurs de briques, with a preface by Jean-Claude Carrière. Originally published in Spanish in 1930 and first translated into French in 1972, the book opens with an anecdote about a nine-year-old girl whose faith was shaken after seeing women pass the consecrated host from hand to hand during communion. Bergamín uses this to explore liturgical practice, faith, and the relationship between aesthetics and morality. He critiques both anarchist iconoclasts who burned churches and Catholic crusaders who burned 'the Church of God,' arguing that the devil lurks within the Church itself, causing its degeneration and ugliness. The volume also includes 'La Main dans le feu,' a meditation on marriage, love, and time, referencing Dante and Catherine of Siena. Bergamín, born in 1895, served in the provisional government of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, witnessed the burning of over a hundred churches in Madrid and Andalusia, and later opposed Franco and the Catholic hierarchy's support for the Nationalists. He wrote 'Terrorisme et persécution religieuse en Espagne 1936-1939,' denouncing the barbarism that would engulf Europe. A passionate aficionado, Bergamín also wrote on bullfighting, equating it with great painting and poetry, and reflecting on courage, fear, and human dignity.