Madrid, Spain, Jan 24, 2007 / 11:09 am
According to a poll by the Social Foundation of the University of Francisco de Vitoria, 25% of immigrants lose their faith after moving to Spain.
As reported by the publication Alba, the poll, which was given to 500 immigrants from 36 different countries, showed that “99.2% of the respondents said they had religious convictions at one point in their lives, but 15% said they had lost them after moving to Spain, and 10% said they felt there were currently losing their faith.”
The study indicated that the reason for the loss of faith is due to the immersion of immigrants into “a hedonistic and consumerist society.” It also said the values respondents selected as important also provided a clue to the problem. “43.7% of respondents said good health is what makes them happiest; 23.7% said money; 18.9% said the family, and only 2.5% said God was their main source of happiness.”
Joaquin Saldaña, director of the Foundation, said these values seemed to be more important to respondents than moral and religious values. However, moral and religious values “do not annul other moral values nor are they substitutes. Quite the contrary,” he said.