Peter Haas on Catholicism in Spain

By: Peter Haas

April 7, 2008

Hello again from Salamanca, Spain. Since my last letter I have had several different religious experiences, done quite a bit of traveling and hopefully improved a bit more in my castellano.


For starters, I attended my first Mass in Spain yesterday, Sunday, April 6, 2008. I chose to attend an 8:00 p.m. Mass at a large old historical church in the center of town. This church, called, San Juan de Sahagún has a regular 8:00 p.m. Mass which appears to be fairly popular. As with eating times and other schedules in Spain, 8:00 p.m. may seem very late for a Sunday Mass in the United States; however, it is perfectly normal here in Spain.

The Mass overall had a very different feel from that of a mass in the United States, not only due to the language barrier, but also due to many other cultural aspects. First of all, the vast majority of attendees were older, including the priest. The mass itself had a rather cold, efficient feeling about it. There was little pomp and circumstance, with no music other than during communion, which was a generic recording of background music. Readings were straight forward with a simple, unemotional homily followed by the rest of the necessary procedures. For the congregation, this appeared to be a disconnected experience, for the priest it appeared the same. We were in our seats for about 40 minutes, a decent bit shorter than the average Mass in the United States. Also of interest, at the time of communion, instead of a regular line as we would have in the United States, it was a bit of a free for all, with everyone who wanted to receive communion simply rising and going to the front of the church. Additionally, a fair amount of the attendees (maybe 40 percent or so) did not receive communion at all. I spend time mentioning these differences, not to pass a judgment one way or the other, but simply to recognize the profound differences that you can encounter in what is supposed to be a "standardized" Catholic Mass.

From my observations during Mass however, as well as my continued interactions with Spaniards, if I had to comment on the future of the Catholic Church in Spain, I would say that it appears as though the Church will decrease considerably in years to come. My experiences as a university student (except for my theology class) have shown me that religion has very little impact on the lives of fellow university students, even in classes at the Catholic university. Although disinterest seems to be highest among the youth, not only from my personal interactions with them, but also from my observations of Mass attendance, disinterest is also high among older people as well. My host parents, for example, almost never go to church, as well as many of the other host parents of students in our program; it just is not an important part of their lives.

Many people attribute this disinterest and general decline to the Church's past association with the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. It may also be looked at through the lens of their current government, where the Spanish Socialist party currently has the majority in congress, and President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was recently re-elected to a second term. Clearly, many Spaniards are simply not interested in religion. As previously expressed, however, the future of the Catholic Church in Spain, in my opinion, is a much diminished one.

Continuing from my first letter with the theme of Spain as a country in transition, it is continually interesting to me to observe the mix of religion in everyday culture and ways of life that this seemingly "unreligious" country has. For example, unlike in the United States when we may have something like "Spring Break," here it would simply be "Easter Break." "Winter Break" would be "Christmas Break," etc. Also, there are many feast days centered on local saints and various religious traditions; it permeates the culture. Everyone, including the "non-religious," knows about different Catholic holidays and feast days, and different local dishes are closely associated with Catholicism and religious roots. This interesting mix of secular and religion is interesting to me in that, as explained previously, people here are in no way religious, but yet follow many religious traditions. In this way, it is clear that Spain is a country in transition, socially, religiously, politically, etc.

As a Catholic student studying in Spain, what does this mean for me? It means that I can basically do no wrong, in that it is certainly acceptable if I want to participate in Mass and is still looked at by some as being a good thing to be involved with, but at the same time, my less than stellar attendance record at Mass this semester is also not met with judgments or self-righteousness; it is a very "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude. It also means we get more days off, even at a public university, for traditional fiestas associated with Catholicism. Overall, it has been an interesting experience thus far, observing what it means to be a Catholic in Spain, where Catholicism is heading and the implications that this has for a country in transition. I will continue to enjoy my time here and take note of my religious experiences and will be sure to share them on my return.

Gracias!
Peter Haas
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