Spain, land of Mary. The attribute that Pope John Paul II gave to Spain from his first visit in 1982 to his emotional farewell in 2003 comes from afar. In fact, it marks its own theological tradition definitively fixed throughout Catholicism already in the 19th century with the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
Until then, the mother of Jesus had always been a virgin since Hispanic tradition assumed the theses of Saint Ildefonso of Toledo, a Visigoth nobleman from the beginning of the 7th century. His own conception was also free of sin, as from the beginning of the 12th century there are various celebration rites in the Kingdom of Navarre and the Crown of Aragon, probably extended to the rest of the Christian kingdoms and counties of the Peninsula. Not in vain, in Roman Hispania the Virgin already appeared to the Apostle Santiago when she was spreading the faith in Caesar Augusta, present-day Zaragoza, so that she would not falter in her efforts.
In that land of Mary, with a Marian cult spread throughout its geography, with countless devotions to the Virgin in each region, city, town or village, and a popular fervor that transcended religion, figure and meaning. of the Mother of God was one of the main discordant elements that the Second Vatican Council encountered in its search for ecumenism and reunion of Christian creeds.
In this context, the Institute of Public Opinion, predecessor of the current Center for Sociological Research, decided to carry out a study at the beginning of 1965 to put black on white. The aim was to determine the degree of information that Spanish society had about the Second Vatican Council, its religious attitudes and practices, and its opinions on religious freedom. To put the cherry on top and apparently out of the blue, the study was also interested in their opinions on birth control. The survey was carried out between January 25 and February 5, 1965 on a universe of 860 people of different sexes and social status, although exclusively residents of Madrid.
The result did not cease to be surprising, since in that search for ecumenism promoted by both John XXIII and Paul VI, a majority of those surveyed willingly agreed to give in in relation to Marian dogmas, presumably so rooted in history, tradition. and popular worship. Simply to facilitate an approach to the Orthodox and Protestant churches, despite being totally foreign realities, especially in Spain at the time. Added to this was a position of absolute respect for those other faiths that came to endorse the confessional openness promoted by the regime.
Only 26% of those surveyed declared themselves “very religious”, with those who accepted the induced response of “moderately religious” overwhelmingly dominating (72%) and the response of “indifferent” or “not at all religious” being practically residual (2%). In any case, the 99% defined themselves as Catholic Christians. The question revealed, curiously, that the level of income also marked the degree of religiosity, since respondents who declared less income were proportionally more religious than those who declared a higher income.
Practitioners were also said to be a resounding 98%, although with important nuances, since only 25% attended religious services “very regularly” and strictly complied with the sacraments. 57% did it “with some regularity” and 15% “with little”; that is, punctually. Once again, the level of income was inversely proportional to religious practice, although this time with the exception of the lowest segment, which was not notable for its constant presence at mass.
Regarding the current situation of the Church, 64% knew that the Second Vatican Council was being held. The most informed proportionally were those with higher incomes, although those who claimed that they had followed it were fewer: 59%, mainly through the press, television and radio, in that order.
And at this point in the study came one of the key questions: What to do to promote the ecumenism that the council had advocated? A surprising 45% of those interviewed were clear that they had to give up whatever was necessary to achieve the union of the different Christian churches, “even at the cost of giving up important principles.” The option of “getting closer, but maintaining each of the essential parts” was supported by 33% and due to the existing “radical separation” only 3% were nominated.
From there it could be understood that the respondents were also willing to give in on an apparently fundamental aspect such as the cult of the Virgin Mary, as the following question proposed. And this is how 42% would not mind “giving in something” in order to reach an agreement with the other Christian cults, compared to 32% who were irreducible. The rest were either not very clear or preferred not to respond.
Going through thorny issues, the survey also asked about the Statute of Non-Catholics, the name with which – for obvious reasons – the Draft Law on the Legal Status of Non-Catholic Confessions in Spain and their Members became popular. A text that would culminate with the Religious Freedom law of 1967 that the regime was forced to implement to open itself to the world.
Only 11% of those surveyed knew about this Statute, and among them 87% did not know what it was about. That is to say, he had hopefully heard of it despite having answered affirmatively. Knowing or not knowing this Statute, the majority (48%) considered that Catholics and non-Catholics – the way in which the faithful of other religions were called, including Christians – should be considered equal. A small 13% defended, however, that only Catholicism should be practiced in Spain.
Surprisingly, the survey seamlessly linked questions about religious freedom with birth control, asking respondents if they considered there was a population problem in the world, to which 47% answered affirmatively.
Regarding the control of this supposedly exacerbated birth rate, there was a division of opinion: 31% considered that it should be allowed “in the manner permitted by the Church” while 26% supported the option of allowing “by any means”, although only when there are “serious reasons”. The option of “having the freedom to have children or not” barely had the support of 15% of the participants in the study.
From there, a series of questions about international news attested to the lack of knowledge or interest – probably both – that Spanish society demonstrated in what was happening beyond its borders.
