Religion in Sevilla

Something that stood out to me when I moved to Sevilla was that religion still plays a big role in this city. Roman Catholicism is the largest Christian religion in the world, and also the most popular religion in Spain. It is one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, and it follows the Old and New Testament of the Bible. There are about 200 Roman Catholic churches in Sevilla, so you can say it's quite popular here. But why is it so important in this city? And will it stay like that in the future as well? I looked into it.

How important is catholicism in Sevilla?

Catholicism in Sevilla is very important, and still very popular. If you ask people why, they all answer quite the same:

It gave me a second family;
Some people are going to the Church to meet some new people. They see these people every time they go to the Church, so they are well connected with eachother. Because they spend more and more time with eachother, people will gain feeling (in a friendly way) towards eachother.
It makes me happy;
Everytime you are going to the Church, you can build a better and better relationship with God. This makes some people feel fullfilled.
It gives me purpose.
These three reason are for many people reasons enough to become or to stay Catholic.

Catholic holidays

"Holy Week", also known as Semana Santa, is one of the most important weeks, because it commemorates the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

During this celebration various activities are carried out that begin with the "Palm Sunday", which commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, where he is received with palm leaves and olive branches.

Later, "Holy Thursday" is celebrated, which is the first day of the Easter Triduum (the three days of this commemoration). Here the Last Supper of Jesus is remembered before being crucified, in which he presents the Eucharist, materialized as bread and wine.

On "Good Friday" the Crucifixion of Jesus is remembered as one of the most relevant days of recollection of Holy Week, while on "Holy Saturday" Jesus was crucified, died and buried and is on the eve of his resurrection.

"Resurrection Sunday" is the day when Jesus Christ rises after the crucifixion, goes to meet his apostles and then goes up to the heavens.

Is the church still popular?

Studies show that not a lot of people are still going to church. Especially, not all of the milenials are not going to the church anymore and there are multiple reasons for that. One of the most important reasons is that more and more youngsters don't believe that God exists. Some also feel that it has become very difficult to have an honest conversation in many churches today. For more information on this subject, read this article. 

For now, religion is still a big thing in the south of Spain. It has become more and more rare,