How did Francisco Franco’s victory in the Spanish Civil War affect anticlerical laws?

Following his victory in the Spanish Civil War, Francisco Franco dismantled the anticlerical framework established by the Second Republic. The Falangist dictatorship repealed or ignored the anticlerical laws that had previously restricted the Roman Catholic Church, effectively reversing the secularizing policies of the 1930s.1

Franco restored Roman Catholicism as the official state religion, a status it retained until the 1978 constitution. As part of his strategy to consolidate power, Franco shifted the balance of influence within his regime toward the church, granting it significant control over education. This alliance was further formalized in 1953 through a concordat with the Vatican, which provided the regime with increased diplomatic legitimacy. While the church generally supported the regime, tensions persisted over time, particularly as some clergy members became sympathetic to social justice movements and regional nationalist groups in the later years of Franco's rule.23