Catalonia, the land of Saint Peter Claver and Saint Raymond Nonnatus, and of so many other holy men and women, was, as is well known, one of the most intensely Catholic regions in all of Europe just a few decades ago - the very literary rebirth of its language, the movement known as the Renaixença catalana, was Catholic in its origins. Following the Council, and together with the other furnace of Catholic identity in the peninsula, the Basque Country, it led that nation on the road to Secularism and perdition. Its bishops and most of its priests became mere promoters of "progressive politics" and regional separatism. Catholic Catalonia is dead.
Note: since some have tried to downplay what are simply numbers (we thought the clear collapse in absolute numbers would have been enough), here is a clarification provided by the statistical institute itself: of all marriages by a single man and a single woman (27269 in 2000, 18737 in 2010, a decline of about one third), and without considering other occasions in which a Catholic marriage would have been possible, but cannot be separated from other situations, this means that approx. 77.9% of all first marriages were Catholic in 2000, but only 31.3% of first marriages were in 2010. This in only one decade; let us repeat ourselves: in one decade.
Note: since some have tried to downplay what are simply numbers (we thought the clear collapse in absolute numbers would have been enough), here is a clarification provided by the statistical institute itself: of all marriages by a single man and a single woman (27269 in 2000, 18737 in 2010, a decline of about one third), and without considering other occasions in which a Catholic marriage would have been possible, but cannot be separated from other situations, this means that approx. 77.9% of all first marriages were Catholic in 2000, but only 31.3% of first marriages were in 2010. This in only one decade; let us repeat ourselves: in one decade.
