Spain’s rampant secularisation means that the time has ended when a Spaniard could link the country with a Catholic identity.
Archbishop Luis Argüello, the president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference – CEE, by its Spanish acronym – made the observations when opening the conference’s 127th plenary assembly this week with a deep analysis of the country’s turn away from Catholicism toward secular liberalism, reports the Catholic News Agency (CNA).
“The time has passed, settled for centuries, when we said: I’m Catholic because I was born in Spain,” Argüello said, noting that the Church can no longer take for granted that Spanish people are converted or initiated into the Catholic faith in the society of today.
During his talk, the archbishop of Valladolid also highlighted the worrying situation indicated by baptismal fonts: that while there are 23,000 baptismal fonts distributed over the country’s 22,921 parishes, many of them “have no water” due to lack of Christian community that can “help the Holy Spirit engender new Christians”.
He also noted that in more populated areas there is “a very weak awareness of the responsibility entailed in having a baptismal font”.
The situation represents a “large, quantitative and qualitative challenge” that requires discernment, he urged, especially considering that in numerous rural parishes it is no longer possible to celebrate the Sunday Eucharist, while in large cities there is a remarkable contrast of schedules and celebrations based on each neighbourhood.
Argüello also warned that another implication of the secularising shift could impact the social and charitable work of Catholic organisations.
“Today we run the risk that our organisations, so dependent on the welfare state, its rules, and subsidies for the third sector [encompassing nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and nonprofits], might offer in a weak way the novelty of Christian love and could be easily confused with a very bureaucratic NGO,” the archbishop said.
Spain recently topped the list from among European countries for adults leaving their childhood religion.
On 26 March, the Pew Research Center published “Around the World, Many People Are Leaving Their Childhood Religions”. The reports looked at countries across East Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Western countries dominate the places where people who were raised Christian now describe themselves as religiously disaffiliated. Most who left Christianity are religiously disaffiliated, opposed to joining another religion.
Spain has experienced the greatest haemorrhaging in Europe, with 35 per cent of adults who said they were raised Christian now describing themselves as religiously disaffiliated.
Other countries near the top of the list for adults who have shifted from Christian to being disaffiliated, are Sweden and Germany (both 29 per cent), the Netherlands (28 per cent), and Canada and the United Kingdom (26 per cent).