Spain is a country of religious contradiction. It is the birthplace of St. Teresa of Ávila and St. Josemaría Escrivá, yet has fewer than 20 percent of Catholics attending Mass regularly. Despite this, the Holy Spirit has retained a vestige of faithful which supports international pilgrims who regularly come to Spain to walk the Camino Del Santiago.
Public opinion inside the Church
We are habitually hounded with public opinion that questions the Church, but how does the public opinion inside the Church affect the breakdown of the faith? Norberto González Gaitano, professor of Public Opinion at Santa Croce University in Rome, elaborates in his article, Public Opinion in the Church: A communicative and ecclesiological reflection, that “internal discussions and indoor Church affairs are inexorably linked to the shaping of public opinion regarding the Church.”
Lack of a personal faith encounter
Spain’s strong dominant stereotype of being a free-spirited culture is clear, as seen in Catalonia’s fight for independence from Spain, where the Independence Movement is strongly anti-Spanish and anti-Christian. However, Fr. Julián Lozano López, Director of Mass Communications in the Diocese of Getafe, Spain, believes it is the same crisis of faith that is affecting nominally Christian nations worldwide. “The experience of faith has decreased enormously [in Western culture],” he says.
