I Pray Not
From the outside Spain has always appeared to be a profoundly Catholic country, where religion and politics seem to be intertwined and everyone goes to Mass on Sundays. That was true once upon a time. Until the middle of the nineteenth century and a wave of anticlericalism by liberal governments, everyone had perforce to belong to the Catholic Church. The Inquisition made sure of that. After the "separation" of Church and State, a Spanish citizen could belong to a different religion without civil retaliation. But the Church still remained a force to be reckoned with. When George Borrow travelled the length and breadth of Spain as he described in The Bible in Spain in 1843, Catholicism was still the only religion allowed, though Protestant preachers were permitted to enter the country. As of 1868, though, freedom of religion became the law. Which did not mean the Church lost power. While it had lost a lot of property during the nineteenth century, it did not lose all of it nor did it lose influence, especially among the upper classes.
During the beginning of the twentieth century the rise of anarchism, socialism, and sindicalism caused anticlericalism to grow among the working classes. They saw the Church as a defender of the ruling classes while offering no help for the social problems that had arisen from industrialization. The only help the Church offered was the teaching that salvation lay in a future life and that everyone on earth had their proper station in which they had to fulfill their duties. Resignation. Things came to a head in 1931 during the Second Republic, when a new constitution declared Spain a state with no officially recognized religion. The government also turned its head at the hundreds of convents and monasteries that were sacked and burned, especially in the south. With Franco the Church returned to its former place in public life, with several bishops hired to censor movies, newspapers, magazines, and later, television. The censorship was not only to stop any criticism of the regime, it was also to promote Catholic views on society while obliviating anything that threatened the hegemony of Catholicism as the one and only religion of Spain. So, kissing scenes were cut from foreign movies, and anything subtly heretical in an actor's speech was translated to lose the heresy. Pictures of boxers and other athletes in newspapers that showed naked torsos were retouched to make people think they were wearing black tank tops. Décolletage in movie posters became demure. Religion was re-introduced into education, its study obligatory and infusing other subjects.
On the civil side, to obtain documents such as a passport under Franco, a document from the parish priest assessing the applicant's good moral standing was necessary. The only weddings officiated were religious weddings; no others were valid. Children had to be baptized to be registered at school. Which brought about some interesting cases. One girl had been born in 1935 and registered in the Registro Civil but not baptized, like many in those years. Then the war came and went, leaving a changed Spain behind it. When her parents went to register her in a school in 1943, it turned out that she had to present a baptismal certificate to be admitted. So they made an appointment at a local church. When the priest asked for the name and the mother said, "Alma", the priest objected, saying that was not a Christian name. The girl had to be baptized with a name from the saint's calendar or some other name from the Bible. She was baptized Berta that day, and lived a dual life in which in one place her name was Alma and at another place it was Berta. Until Franco died the only names a child could be given were saints' names. Many girls had Maria worked into their name, and boys got José. Nor could the names be foreign. Franco would turn over in his grave with all the Jessicas and Kevins about, today.
The Church became more critical of Franco after the Second Vatican Council, but it wasn't enough for many people. After the Transition and the Constitution in 1978, people began to demand reforms, such as a divorce law and legalized abortion. Those were instituted in the 1980's and church attendance has been going down ever since. People are more open to liberal ideas and do not find anything wrong with things that would have sent an eighty-year-old in 1960 flying to the parish priest, ready to denounce amorality. In fact, there is less censorship on television and in other public media than in the United States. Here, there is no problem with seeing a topless woman, and a film with sexual scenes that would have earned it an X rating for adults only in the U.S., here has audiences of all ages. People no longer attend church every Sunday. In fact, in 2014 only a little over 13 percent of Spaniards faithfully went to church every Sunday and feast day. And only 67 percent of the population considered themselves practicising Catholics. People are also avoiding the Church when it comes to getting married. In 1996 over 76 percent had church weddings, whereas over 23 percent married before a judge. In 2011 things had changed. By then it was over 39 percent who had church weddings, and over 60 percent those who had no need of a priest.
Many Spaniards find Americans religiously puritanical in regards to sex and acceptance of different sexual identities. We were one of the first countries to legalize gay weddings. Not everybody is liberal, but even those who would not accept a family member's homosexuality, still think that it should be live and let live. For a president or an elected official to have an affair is not strange here. It does not denote a bankrupt morality. Even the rumors about the former king's possible affair simply made people giggle and admit he's human.
Yes, there are devout Catholics still in Spain, but they mostly keep their devotion private. They may practice their religion in daily life, but they do not keep mentioning it, nor pointing out others' avoidance of Mass. Bible thumpers are seen as social oddities. There was once a man with a Bible in his hand, preaching at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid when I was visiting. There were also performers nearby. The performers were surrounded by circles of observers, the preacher was ignored even more than the statue of Carlos III on his horse. At least some tourists were taking pictures of the statue. There's been enough Bible thumping in Spain; let it rest.
During the beginning of the twentieth century the rise of anarchism, socialism, and sindicalism caused anticlericalism to grow among the working classes. They saw the Church as a defender of the ruling classes while offering no help for the social problems that had arisen from industrialization. The only help the Church offered was the teaching that salvation lay in a future life and that everyone on earth had their proper station in which they had to fulfill their duties. Resignation. Things came to a head in 1931 during the Second Republic, when a new constitution declared Spain a state with no officially recognized religion. The government also turned its head at the hundreds of convents and monasteries that were sacked and burned, especially in the south. With Franco the Church returned to its former place in public life, with several bishops hired to censor movies, newspapers, magazines, and later, television. The censorship was not only to stop any criticism of the regime, it was also to promote Catholic views on society while obliviating anything that threatened the hegemony of Catholicism as the one and only religion of Spain. So, kissing scenes were cut from foreign movies, and anything subtly heretical in an actor's speech was translated to lose the heresy. Pictures of boxers and other athletes in newspapers that showed naked torsos were retouched to make people think they were wearing black tank tops. Décolletage in movie posters became demure. Religion was re-introduced into education, its study obligatory and infusing other subjects.
On the civil side, to obtain documents such as a passport under Franco, a document from the parish priest assessing the applicant's good moral standing was necessary. The only weddings officiated were religious weddings; no others were valid. Children had to be baptized to be registered at school. Which brought about some interesting cases. One girl had been born in 1935 and registered in the Registro Civil but not baptized, like many in those years. Then the war came and went, leaving a changed Spain behind it. When her parents went to register her in a school in 1943, it turned out that she had to present a baptismal certificate to be admitted. So they made an appointment at a local church. When the priest asked for the name and the mother said, "Alma", the priest objected, saying that was not a Christian name. The girl had to be baptized with a name from the saint's calendar or some other name from the Bible. She was baptized Berta that day, and lived a dual life in which in one place her name was Alma and at another place it was Berta. Until Franco died the only names a child could be given were saints' names. Many girls had Maria worked into their name, and boys got José. Nor could the names be foreign. Franco would turn over in his grave with all the Jessicas and Kevins about, today.
The Church became more critical of Franco after the Second Vatican Council, but it wasn't enough for many people. After the Transition and the Constitution in 1978, people began to demand reforms, such as a divorce law and legalized abortion. Those were instituted in the 1980's and church attendance has been going down ever since. People are more open to liberal ideas and do not find anything wrong with things that would have sent an eighty-year-old in 1960 flying to the parish priest, ready to denounce amorality. In fact, there is less censorship on television and in other public media than in the United States. Here, there is no problem with seeing a topless woman, and a film with sexual scenes that would have earned it an X rating for adults only in the U.S., here has audiences of all ages. People no longer attend church every Sunday. In fact, in 2014 only a little over 13 percent of Spaniards faithfully went to church every Sunday and feast day. And only 67 percent of the population considered themselves practicising Catholics. People are also avoiding the Church when it comes to getting married. In 1996 over 76 percent had church weddings, whereas over 23 percent married before a judge. In 2011 things had changed. By then it was over 39 percent who had church weddings, and over 60 percent those who had no need of a priest.
Many Spaniards find Americans religiously puritanical in regards to sex and acceptance of different sexual identities. We were one of the first countries to legalize gay weddings. Not everybody is liberal, but even those who would not accept a family member's homosexuality, still think that it should be live and let live. For a president or an elected official to have an affair is not strange here. It does not denote a bankrupt morality. Even the rumors about the former king's possible affair simply made people giggle and admit he's human.
Yes, there are devout Catholics still in Spain, but they mostly keep their devotion private. They may practice their religion in daily life, but they do not keep mentioning it, nor pointing out others' avoidance of Mass. Bible thumpers are seen as social oddities. There was once a man with a Bible in his hand, preaching at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid when I was visiting. There were also performers nearby. The performers were surrounded by circles of observers, the preacher was ignored even more than the statue of Carlos III on his horse. At least some tourists were taking pictures of the statue. There's been enough Bible thumping in Spain; let it rest.
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