Liberalism is a Sin (Spanish:Elliberalismo es pecado) is a book written byRoman Catholic priestFélix Sardà y Salvany in 1884, which became a rallying point for conservative political movements such asIntegralism andCarlism.
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Sardà believed thatliberalism is the "burning issue of our century" : it is the "radical and absolute negation of the sovereignty of God". It is all the more dangerous because it became an official legal error, introduced into the government of princes by powerful figures.
Thepamphlet was written in a period that was favourable to anti-liberalism and Catholic integralism in thehistory of Spain: theFirst Spanish Republic had been overthrown in 1874 and theBourbon dynasty had been restored to the throne. The writing had considerable success among theCarlist andIntegrist movements.
Sardà drew heavily from the papal encyclicalsMirari vos ofPope Gregory XVI (1832),Quanta cura ofPope Pius IX and the attachedSyllabus Errorum (1864) and other papal documents condemning liberalism.
Under the direction of liberal-leaning Bishop Rev. Jacobo Catala Et Alboso, a rebuttal to Sardà'sEl liberalismo es pecado was written by the Catholiccanon Celestino de Pazos from Vich entitledEl proceso del integrismo: refutación de los errores que contiene el opúsculo del Dr. Sardá y Salvany "el liberalismo es pecado". Both works were sent to theSacred Congregation of the Index and its secretary, Fr. Jerome SecheriOP, issued a statement on January 10, 1887, ruling for Sardà and finding errors in the rebuttal along with uncharitable insinuations about Sardà.[1]
Historian Noel Valis points out that "During theSpanish Civil War, in a propaganda pamphlet, the Republican supporterLangdon-Davies pointed out to English Catholics that the same sentiment (liberalism is a sin) could be found in a popular catechism by Angel Maria de Arcos."[2]
A translation of Sardà'sEl liberalismo es pecado into English was created byCondé B. Pallen, entitledWhat Is Liberalism?.[3] The translation was first published in 1899 and reprinted many times including in 1979 and 1989.[3]
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