Losing their religion? New report shows Spaniards are turning their backs on faith

[trotsky]

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/04/12/inenglish/1555056887_664300.html

Francesc Romeu was ordained as a priest 34 years ago and is currently in charge of the parish of Santa Maria de Taulat in the Barcelona neighborhood of Poblenou. “This Sunday is Palm Sunday,” he says. “I have already asked the florist who sells the palms and she tells me I will have a full house. The square will be bursting at the seams. But on Maundy Thursday it will be back to reality and I will preaching to just a few.”

It is not surprising Romeu feels his flock has diminished. According to the report Secularism in Figures, 2018 from the Ferrer i Guàrdia Foundation, 27% of Spaniards are either atheists, agnostics or non-believers. The foundation’s director, Silvia Luque, believes this is a “historic” figure.

The data, compiled predominantly from the National Statistics Institute (INE) and the barometer from the Center for Sociological Research, does not spell good news for the future of the Church. As many as 48.9% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 have turned their back on religion, while just 48.5% confess to having a belief system.

...The percentage of believers in Spain stands at 69.5% with only 26.6% declaring themselves to be practicing believers, which is, according to the report’s author Josep Mañe, an all-time low. As the figures suggest, the numbers abandoning religion since 1980 when just 8.5% of the population did not believe, have risen relentlessly, a scenario which has led to a corresponding drop in Church weddings.

[Voltaire2]

1. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition

Seems like the church needs to find another Franco if they want to keep hold of their flock in Spain.

[Pope George Ringo II]

6. There's a pretty good argument that's how they got to where they are today.

The partnership Franco had going with the RCC really hurt the reputations of both in the long run. It doesn't appear the RCC will ever recover, and Franco, of course, is still dead.

[atreides1]

2. Perhaps...

...it's the church they no longer have faith in???

[MFM008]

3. Finally get tired

Of the inquisition?

[NeoGreen]

4. I enjoy seeing the graphs...

...

It is not surprising Romeu feels his flock has diminished. According to the report Secularism in Figures, 2018 from the Ferrer i Guàrdia Foundation, 27% of Spaniards are either atheists, agnostics or non-believers. The foundation’s director, Silvia Luque, believes this is a “historic” figure.

[MineralMan]

5. Another place where non-believers has exceeded the number of

"practicing believers." The trend is clear. The Church no longer has relevance to many people. The struggle to maintain such relevance is apparently not going well in many places.