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The pandemic accelerated the decrease of Spanish Catholics

"With the coronavirus pandemic, the number of people declaring themselves Catholic in Spain is declining," according to a public opinion study by the Madrid Statistical Research Center (CIS).

 

However, the authors of the study pointed out that the unprecedented decline in the number of Catholics during the COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by a slight increase in those who described themselves as “practising Catholics.” Between April and September 2020, their number increased from 19.5 per cent. up to 20.4 per cent.

The CIS study shows that the departure from the Church took place among a group of Catholics who, in an earlier poll of this institution, described themselves as “believers, although not practising”. While in April their percentage was 41.7%, in September it fell to 38.8%.

“This study shows a clear decline in the number of believers over the last decade, during which the 2011 World Youth Day was organised in Madrid. At that time, as many as 73 per cent were considered Catholics,” recalled the Catholic website Religion en Libertad.

It also noted that the decline in the number of believers over the last ten years resulted, among others, from the fact that a significant proportion of Catholics have died in recent years because of their advanced age.

Source: pch24.pl

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