Francisco Canals Vidal (1922–2009) was a Spanish philosopher, theologian, academic and lay Catholic activist. The longtime chair of Catedra de Metafísica of the Barcelona University, he is recognized mostly as one of the most distinguished contemporary Thomists and leader of the so-called Barcelona Thomist school; his scientific focus was mostly on metaphysics of cognition. As a theologian he specialized in theology of history and Josephology, as lay Catholic he contributed to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Historian of ideas and partially political theorist himself, he remained related to the Carlist version of Traditionalism and is considered one of its greatest contemporary masters.
Family and youth
The Canals family is among the best-known in Catalonia; it gained both recognition and position in the 18th century, upon co-foundation, taking over and later management of , one of the first major textile plants in the region.compare Roger Alier, La Fábrica d’Indianes de la familia Canals, [in:] Recerques: història, economia, cultura 4 (1974), pp. 59-91, María Antonia Cilleruelo Uzquiza, Los fabricantes: su enoblecimineto. Los Canals: la fabrica de indianas. De „Payes de barón”. Otros fabricantes ennobleados, [in:] Revista d'historia moderna 8/1 (1988), pp. 49-56 The first identified direct ancestor of Francisco was his great-grandfather, Bernart Canals Papell; his son and Francisco's paternal grandfather, Emilio Canals Moret (1841-1907), was active in the Conservative Party and in 1902 entered its Barcelona Junta Ejecutiva.Dinastía 02.02.02, available here He married María Paz Arrieta Acuña; the couple had at least 10 children, one of them was Francisco's father, Manuel Canals Arrieta (1877-1938).it is not clear what he was doing for a living. In 1909 he published a book, Almas anonimas, compare AbeBooks service; nothing is known about its content The latter married Carolina Tay SucreLa Vanguardia 01.03.24, available here and fathered one child before his wife died.Manuel Canals Arrieta entry, [in:] MyHeritage genealogical service, available here In 1916Revista montserratina 7/1916, available here he re-married with Manuela Vidal Cabot (1886-1973).La Vanguardia 20.02.73, available here The couple lived in Barcelona and had 5 children;La Vanguardia 11.08.40, available here Francisco was born as the youngest of the siblings.Biografía, [in:] Francisco Canals Vidal. Al servicio del Reinado del Sagrado Corazón service, available here
The children were brought up in a fervently religious ambience.Manuel Canals Arrieta was congregante de la Purificación, La Vanguardia 11.08.40 Francisco was first educated in the Piarist school at calle Diputación; in 1932, already in course of his secondary education, he moved to Colegio del Sagrado Corazón, also in Barcelona.Francisco Canals Vidal entry, [in:] filosofia.org service, available here One source claims he frequented the college until 1939,Francisco Canals Vidal entry, [in:] filosofia.org service another one that living in the Republican-controlled Barcelona, he attended various establishments and obtained bachillerato shortly after the end of the Civil War.Biografía, [in:] Francisco Canals Vidal. Al servicio del Reinado del Sagrado Corazón service He first intended to study mathematics, but abandoned the curriculum shortly and in 1940 joined the Jesuit seminar in Veruela.Biografía, [in:] Francisco Canals Vidal. Al servicio del Reinado del Sagrado Corazón service His novitiate lasted only few months before Canals left the Jesuits. Disoriented and unsure about his future, bowing to the pressure of own family he decided to pursue the career of a notary and in 1943 enrolled at law in the University of Barcelona. Before graduation in 1946Cronología, [in:] Francisco Canals Vidal. Al servicio del Reinado del Sagrado Corazón service, available here and considering juridical studies introduction to general education, he commenced studying Philosophy and Letters; he graduated in 1950.Miguel Ayuso, Un apóstol intelectual, [in:] ABC 13.02.09, available here In the late 1940s Canals assumed auxiliary teaching duties at Universidad de Barcelona.Biografía, [in:] Francisco Canals Vidal. Al servicio del Reinado del Sagrado Corazón service
In 1950 Canals married Isabel Suris Fábrega (died 2023);La Vanguardia 05.09.23 none of the sources consulted provides any information on her or her family. The couple settled in Barcelona and had 11 children.Enrique Martínez, In memoriam Francisco Canals Vidal (1922-2009), [in:] Espíritu LVIII (2009), p. 139 Most of them pursued career in business or as professionals; some grew to local prominence and are known in Catalonia: Manuel Canals Suris followed in the footsteps of his father and is a philosopher and anthropologist,compare his works at the dialnet.unirioja service, available here, or at todostuslibros service, available here Francesc Canals Suris is a scientist in biochemistry and head of Proteomics Lab in the Barcelona University Hospital,see Dr. Francesc Canals Suris entry, [in:] IQS: Persona Ciencia Impresa service, available here Carme Canals Suris is a hematologist.see e.g. XVII Jornadas de Medicina Transfusional program, available here José María Canals Suris is active in politics related to Traditionalism; as a candidate of Comunión Tradicionalista Carlista he unsuccessfully ran for the Senate, in 2004 from AlbaceteBOE 02.11.04, available here and in 2008 from Girona.BOE 16.02.08, available here
Academic
Having graduated in Filosofía y Letras, in the early 1950s Canals decided to dedicate himself to philosophy and commenced PhD research, supervised by Jaime Bofill. His dissertation, El logos, ¿indigencia o plenitud? was accepted at the University of Madrid in 1952.Francisco Canals Vidal entry, [in:] filosofia.org service Another PhD thesis, Cristianismo y Revolución, was accepted by Department of Law of the University of Barcelona in 1956.Cronología, [in:] Francisco Canals Vidal. Al servicio del Reinado del Sagrado Corazón service Though he performed minor teaching roles since 1949, his attempts to land chairs of Metafísica in Valencia and Derecho Político in Barcelona proved unsuccessful, yet with the latter he was contracted out to teach teoría de conocimiento.Biografía, [in:] Francisco Canals Vidal. Al servicio del Reinado del Sagrado Corazón service In 1958 he commenced teaching at Insituto Jaime Balmes, a prestigious Barcelona college,ABC 30.04.58 admitted also to Cuerpo de Catedráticos Numerarios de Institutos Nacionales de Enseñanza Media.Francisco Canals Vidal entry, [in:] filosofia.org service He taught at the Institute until the mid-1960s.
Canals’ full-time employment in the Barcelona University commenced in controversial circumstances. In 1965 Manuel Sacristán Luzón, increasingly acknowledged as key Marxist philosopher and suspected to be member of the clandestine Spanish Communist Party, did not get his contract renewed; it was Canals who took over his lectures.Salvador López Arnal, A propósito de un artículo de Alfredo Pastor Expulsiones políticas universitarias y comparaciones forzadas, [in:] Rebelión service 26.11.15, available here In 1966 he assumed Cátedra de Metafísica, replacing the retired Jaime Bofill; this was the post Canals held for over 20 years, until he retired himself in 1987.Biografía, [in:] Francisco Canals Vidal. Al servicio del Reinado del Sagrado Corazón service In the late 1960s and during unspecified time he headed Departamento de Filosofía Teorética.Diccionario Biográfico Español Contemporáneo, Madrid 1970, vol. 1, p. 377 In the 1970s he co-founded Società Internazionale Tommasso d’Aquino, rising to president of its Spanish section (1981-1986) and vice-president of its international executive (1991-1997);Biografía, [in:] Francisco Canals Vidal. Al servicio del Reinado del Sagrado Corazón service in the meantime he obtained one more PhD, in theology.in 1981; he first obtained MA in theology in 1973, Biografía, [in:] Francisco Canals Vidal. Al servicio del Reinado del Sagrado Corazón service In 1989 Canals was nominated to the Vatican-based Pontificia Academia Sancti Thomae Aquinatis.La Vanguardia 19.03.89, available here In the 21st century he was awarded doctor honoris causa titles by universities in Manila, Mar del Plata and the Barcelona Universidad CEU.Enrique Martínez, In memoriam Francisco Canals Vidal (1922-2009), [in:] Espíritu LVIII (2009), p. 139 Canals was active as lecturer also beyond the scholarly realm.he was first noted as lectures in 1949, speaking at Curso de Antropología Católica ran by Hermandad de San Cosme y San Damian, Hoja Oficial de la Provincia de Barcelona 07.03.49, available here; in the 1960s Canals was lecturing e.g. in "Balmesiana" and in collaboration with Schola Cordis Jesu, Hoja Oficial de la Provincia de Barcelona 05.12.60, available here
Canals approached his academic duties as service to science and religion; he saw no incompatibility in search of scientific truth and in missionary, apostolic attitude. He considered the two highly inter-related and passionately pursued both, hardly adhering to dispassionate, detached teaching formula; his lectures are recorded for precise logic, but also for fervor and animation."Los que han sido sus alumnos recordarán siempre la fuerza de sus clases. Al entrar en el aula, el profesor Canals se transformaba, y de una cierta apariencia de timidez pasaba a hablar tamquam potestatem habens, con tal fuerza y energía que incluso asustaba a los que no eran capaces de fijarse en la esencia de lo que estaba diciendo. En efecto, el dr. Canals vibraba todo él al unísono de la materia que exponía, cuestión por cuestión, idea por idea, pues se entregaba con toda su alma a la comunicación de la verdad y la debelación del error", Biografía, [in:] Francisco Canals Vidal. Al servicio del Reinado del Sagrado Corazón service When replacing Sacristán, Canals claimed he accepted the job "to save students from eternal fire", to which they were exposed following frequenting lectures of his predecessor.at least according to later recollections, López Arnal 2015 The students went on strike and Canals narrowly missed physical assault, lambasted later for "su franquista y más que autoritaria y reaccionaria presencia" and for placing a crucifix on the wall of the lecture room.López Arnal 2015 In the 1970s he was already an icon of rotten reaction; during the 1971 riots hundreds of students invaded his officeLa Vanguardia 27.03.71, available here and later boasted of expelling a reactionary from the faculty.López Arnal 2015, La Vanguardia 01.04.71 During transición Canals was particularly alarmed by de-Christianization of universities and remained determined to confront the rising Marxist tide,Francisco Canals Vidal, Encuentro con estudiantes, [in:] Verbo 153-154 (1977), pp. 411-418 anxious that PCE infiltrated the academic realm in pursuit of its revolutionary goals.ABC 03.13.76, available here Also later he kept denouncing subversive activitiesABC 20.05.76, available here and tried to prevent marginalisation of religion and faith in the University.ABC 25.07.78, available here
Philosopher