Negative effects of regulatory fragmentation on social protection of ministers of religion in Spain

• Pages: 607-633
• Author: Ángel Ares y García

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NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF REGULATORY FRAGMENTATION

ON SOCIAL PROTECTION OF MINISTERS

OF RELIGION IN SPAIN1

ÁNGEL ARES Y GARCÍA



Public University of Navarre (UPNA). Spain.

SUMMARY: 1. INTRODUCTION. 2. SUBSTANTIATION OF THE INITIAL

THESIS: APPRECIATION AND REASONING EXERCISES AT THE RELA-

TIONAL LEVEL THROUGH DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE PRO-

BLEM. 2.1. Norm-norm relations.  

 -

    2.2. Norm-

subject relations. 

  -

gious denominations. 2.3. Subject-subject relations. 3. PROPOSAL FOR

FUTURE LAW AND REGULATION. 4. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1. INTRODUCTION.

This research is based on an initial thesis: the current regulation on social

security for ministers of religion in Spain is fragmented and this fragmentation

1 This study is part of the research project PID2023-147184NB-I00, funded by the Spanish

Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (),

through the State Research Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigación, AEI) and the European Social

Fund Plus (FSE+), under the call for Knowledge Generation Projects 2023, within the framework

of the state Programme for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Research and its Transfer, of

the state Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research 2021-2023. The project, entitled

“Asymmetries in the Financial, Asset, and Social Security Regime of Religious Denominations”

(),

is led by Main Researchers Prof. Dr. Alejandro Torres Gutiérrez and Prof. Dr. Óscar Celador Angón.

ÁNGEL ARES Y GARCÍA

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is generating negative effects. Narrowing the object of this research down to the

negative effects is nothing more than a way of promoting the agenda, establishing

a discursive framework and, as an exercise in clarity and honesty, anticipating

the thesis that guides this work.

It is widely known that the world is undergoing a process of political change.

New and old political actors are gaining relevance on the Spanish and European

scene. The role that religious denominations and ministers of religion play in

the political landscape of many countries is well known. Consider certain Latin

American countries, for example, where they have taken sides in the political

arena either as active participants or as sources of destabilization.

Far from falling into the trap of believing that Spain and Europe are immune

to such phenomena, and with the conviction that indifference to the needs of these

organizations and their members may pose a threat to the rule of law, we hereby

present, defend, and proclaim the need for governance in the management of

religious diversity. We hold the view that accommodating religious denominations

within a democratic institutional framework, governed by state neutrality and

cooperation, is the most suitable model in a state governed by the rule of law. This

research addresses how social protection is handled in Spain, a matter that has a

particular impact on the personal sphere of ministers of religion.

Insofar as the political domain has always been, and remains, inextricably

linked to the legal one, the relevance of this research can be situated within the

central theme of this collective work: regulatory fragmentation leads to serious

negative effects, as we will see, and therefore constitutes a challenge for the rule

of law in Europe.

That said, I should acknowledge that these effects of regulatory

fragmentation can be approached from several disciplines. Knowing, explaining

and understanding in totum the impact that the current regulation has on

ministers of religion, members of religious denominations and society in

general would require a multifaceted approach, which we cannot cover here

either because the scope of this study is limited, or because of the intellectual

limitations of the undersigned.

In this chapter we will propose three approaches to the regulation of the

social security situation of ministers of religion in Spain, with an emphasis on its

fragmentation: focusing on the legal aspect of the question, orienting ourselves

towards a description of the problem and putting forward proposals for a

solution in law.

As we have already said, we start from a particular thesis, which we have

arrived at after initial observation, enquiry, reasoning and further observation

that has led us to detect the fragmented nature of the regulation and to ask

ourselves about its effects. In order to substantiate this first spark of spontaneous