This weekend I attended a protestant church with a few other students. The experience spoke volumes of the impact of Spanish history and the relationship of the Catholic church. This room was on the bottom floor in an extra corner of an apartment building a 15-minute walk from the aqueduct. Automatically, it contrasted with the traditional Catholic church, basilica, or cathedral that I have been touring the last few weeks. The dynamics of the congregation were also different than I had anticipated. There were 40 people at highest estimate in the meeting room. All but one person appeared to be under the age of 50. Furthermore, the people looked much more like they were from Latin America rather than Spain. After a little investigation, it was clear my observations were correct. This small group of protestant worshipers were mostly young Spanish family or immigrants from Central and South America. While it has been over 30 years since the end of the Catholic reign of Fransisco Franco, his influence is still felt. The people who grew up and established their adult lives under his rule continue to practice Catholicism. Just as many of the students have mentioned that their host families do not like to speak of Franco, what is clear is that the years of Franco continue to influence Spain through the people he ruled.

Because March is the month of the Holy Bible, the sermon focused on the history of the translation of the Bible from Greek to Castillo. During the 16th Century, the Catholic kingdoms had begun to establish themselves and as a result were forcing those who did not practice Catholicism from Spain. Muslims and Jews were the mass of the emmigrants, however, the Lutheran movement which had been sweeping across Europe conflicted with the Inquisition of the Catholic Kingdom. As a result, the protestent Holy Bible was translated by a Spanish born man in Germany and England. The process toke more than 12 years, but in the end produced the first complete translation of the Holy Bible to Castillian Spanish. This history seemed appropriate and matched the small congreation I was sitting with. Catholicsm has a long and deep history in Spain that has impacted the development of religion in Spain for hundreds of years. This church spoke to the fact that just 30 years of religious freedom can not yet change the religious and polictical culture extablished over centuries.