Catholics in Spain have voiced alarm at the rapid decline of monastic life in the country, despite reassurances from Church leaders.
“We are haemorrhaging fast – religious congregations are being forced to shut their doors definitively due to scarce vocations and advancing ages,” says a statement from Christian Networks, a grouping of more than 200 Catholic communities. “Their unused houses are generally being closed until someone buys or rents them for another purpose, while some are targeted and degraded by vandals and squatters. In certain cases, the houses are kept open and used, but often without any consecrated persons present.”
