In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries groups of reformers demanded a decrease in the Church\u27s powers as a prelude to national political, social and economic reform. But, even they were cautious enough not to demand a complete separation of Church and State. Thus, despite economic attacks upon the Church\u27s landed wealth, and despite a semi-official policy of anticlericalism, the church-state union survived intact until 1931.
The reformers of 1931 deemed it their task to legislate complete separation of the two jurisdictions. Because they wanted the Church forever excluded from the political, social, and intellectual life of the nation, they found Catholic traditionalism to be one of their greatest obstacles. The politico-religious policy of the reformers was to sorely try the stability of the new government, for it provided a focal point for all opposition to republican policies and it was ultimately to become a major cause of the final collapse of the Second Republic
