<Religious collapse in Spain: Vocations on the brink of extinction and the church in free fall.
Horacio Fernando Giusto Vaudagna
August 9, 2025 1:00 pm
A recent report from the CEU-CEFAS Demographic Observatory, a center linked to the San Pablo CEU University of Madrid, reveals an unprecedented crisis in the Spanish Catholic Church, marked by the collapse of vocations, the drastic decline of the sacraments, and the massive abandonment of religious practice.
While Catholicism is growing strongly in Africa and Latin America, Spain is witnessing the collapse of its historic religious identity. The authors of the study point to the loss of Catholic Tradition and an ideological shift toward progressive positions incompatible with doctrine as the main causes.
Spain: From Catholic Leadership to Practical Irrelevance.
The report, titled Demography of the Catholic Church, analyzes the global situation of Catholicism in the 21st century, highlighting its expansion in Africa and Latin America. However, the situation in Spain stands in stark contrast:
- Catholics in Spain: Although 55.5% of Spaniards identify as Catholic, only 18.7% consider themselves practicing.
- Sunday Mass: In 2023, only 8.2 million attended regularly, compared to 24.5 million in 1973. The steepest drop occurred between 1973 and 1978, coinciding with the Transition (from 68% to 40%). Today, less than 17% attend Mass regularly.
Sacraments at Historic Lows.
- Baptisms: In 1971, 99.4% of those born were baptized. Today, less than half of newborns receive this sacrament.
- Church Weddings: These have dropped from 77% in 1996 to less than 20% in 2023, an 87% decrease compared to 1977.
Vocations in Critical Danger.
- Priests: Since 1971, 40% of the active clergy has been lost. In 2023, there were only 15,285 priests, compared to 24,585 five decades ago. The average age of the clergy is 65.5 years.
- New Vocations: Only 79 new priests were ordained in 2023, covering barely 30% of the replacements needed.
- Seminarians: The number has plummeted by 80% in just ten years, from over 8,000 in the 1960s to just over 1,600 in 1975–76.
A Global Church in Expansion… Without Spain.
Worldwide, the Catholic Church remains the largest religious organization on the planet, with 1.4 billion faithful in 2023, and one of the most active humanitarian institutions:
- 227,000 educational centers serving more than 70 million students.
- 5,400 hospitals and 14,000 clinics.
- Over 24,000 care centers for the elderly, disabled, and orphans.
The Americas account for 50% of the world’s Catholics, while Africa is the fastest-growing continent, contributing more than half of all new baptisms. Interestingly, it is also where Tradition is most preserved and where there are the most martyrs.
What Caused Spain’s Collapse?
The report emphasizes that the decline began after the Second Vatican Council, coinciding with a doctrinal shift within the Church toward modernization and dialogue with secular culture.
It also denounces an ideological turn to the left, which the authors consider incompatible with the traditional Faith. By contrast, they recall the religious persecution during the Civil War, in which more than 7,000 clergy and laypeople were killed for their faith.
Today, they observe — they claim — an ambiguous stance on issues such as the Valley of the Fallen, which symbolizes the loss of doctrinal firmness.
According to the report, the only possible way to halt the collapse would be a return to Catholic Tradition, abandoning the ideological and pastoral innovations that, according to its authors, have emptied seminaries and churches.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of Gateway Hispanic.>
https://gatewayhispanic.com/2025/08/religious-collapse-spain-vocations-brink-extinction-church-free/
Am not Catholic. Just a lifelong history maven with faith in God who's watched the acceleration of moral decay in biz & politics, during my 81 yrs, as Western Nations lose faith in themselves to become increasingly secular/agnostic/atheist hell holes of crime & self destruction.
Hell is separation from God.
Iso |
