How important is a Christening here in Spain?

Pregnant, giving birth, looking for nurseries, schools, or simply want to share advice with other parents in Andalucia? Find out more on this forum.
User avatar
karandjon
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2195
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:03 am
Location: Matalascañas

How important is a Christening here in Spain?

Postby karandjon » Sat Aug 29, 2009 11:13 am

I wonder if anyone can give me any info....

I wasn't going to get my son christened, until speaking with my sister in ireland earlier in the week.

She has just had a baby girl and is going to get her christened in October. I was interested why, as they are not religious, and wondered why she was going to go down the route of her baby being Catholic.

She says that at school there, it is a big thing, and that she would hate for her daughter to feel left out if she wasn't the same as her peers.

That got me thinking....is it a big thing here? Is it important for a child to be christened? Does it make any difference when they are older?

Any thoughts gratefully received....

Thanks

Karen x
vino, sol y aire, y seras rico como nadie

BENIDORM
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3982
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:15 pm
Location: Granada Province

Re: How important is a Christening here in Spain?

Postby BENIDORM » Sat Aug 29, 2009 1:39 pm

Karen,
I don't think that religion in Spain is anything like as strong as it was .
But it still seems to play a big part with children, and because of this I would consider having your son christened, better than making him feel different at school and I'm sure it will help your integrating and bonding with Spanish mums....He can make his own mind up about religion when he is old enough, and choose want he wants to do....Just my thoughts on the matter....

We have been invited to lots of different religious ceremonies over the years, and attended, and been made very welcome, even though they know that the only religion that I follow is EBAYING.. :lol:
Our local priest is great , always stops to chat with us, and we do go to midnight mass at Christmas , when we can, and never been made to feel like 'outsiders'.....

Regards,
Gordon..x

pilgrim2
Resident
Posts: 330
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:42 am
Location: Nr Seville

Re: How important is a Christening here in Spain?

Postby pilgrim2 » Sat Aug 29, 2009 3:55 pm

We are not Caltholics. When starting school here the Director asked if we would like our son to attend the the catholic/religion classes and get confirmed along with his class, or have a non religion class, we opted for the latter, the children get loads of extra after school classes to get them ready for Communion (my neighbour said the only reason her son got confirmed was so she could have her day in church when he gets married :lol: ) The kids get loads of expensive pressies(bribery in my opinion) at 1st communion. My son did not feel a tall left out of all the extra work :D but was a bit :mrgreen: at all the pressies they got. Something that can easily be remidied. We attended one communion party - we were invited to many, so he wont miss out on the party. Each year we have a big English style
birthday party inviting the whole class, and each year we get loads of gatecrashers who dont want to miss out :D :D As opposed to a Spanish family party. So I think its swings and roundabouts.... In the Uk my older children did not get christened until the were older and we asked them - they all got christened cos of all the pressies........... :D ......and to please grandma :D

masterob
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2165
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:08 pm
Location: Previously Álora but now in Milton Keynes UK

Re: How important is a Christening here in Spain?

Postby masterob » Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:01 pm

Surely the question should be "How important is a christening to you as parents and to the child rather than what is the done thing in Spain?

If "not religious" means "not believing" then a christening would be farcical and hypocritical and simply using it for a purpose other than that intended.
If "not religious" means "believing but never get around to going to Church" then I suppose anything that might draw you back to the Church and it´s beliefs has to be worth considering.

Written by a non-believer, for what it´s worth!

User avatar
karandjon
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2195
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:03 am
Location: Matalascañas

Re: How important is a Christening here in Spain?

Postby karandjon » Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:39 pm

Many thanks for the replies.

Beni - in total agreement with regarding fitting in at school.

Pilgrim - Same here! My siblings and I didn´t get christened til we were teenagers, so we could choose for ourselves. We all decided to. Thanks for info re school. Very much what I thought may be the case. Am still undecided, as I can see where the benefits are from not having to take the after school classes (I can use this time to teach him reading a& writing in english :D ), but can also see how he may feel left out. More to think about. Thanks for the info.

masterob - I can´t speak for my sister, but to me, by non-religious I mean believing but not going to church. I just want to do the right thing by my son. He is only 6 months old so I can´t ask what he would prefer, at the moment! :D


Any more thoughts on the matter gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks,

Karen x
vino, sol y aire, y seras rico como nadie

Scot
Resident
Posts: 723
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:24 pm

Re: How important is a Christening here in Spain?

Postby Scot » Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:30 pm

Well, the Christening is very important here in Spain and it is a huge event for the family. Personally, I'm not Christened and neither are my children. I leave this big decision up to them and I tell them to find out about many religions and choose one for themselves if they wish. My children have not suffered nor felt left out in any way and my daughter found the service really boring tho she did like the idea of lots of presents AND money :) I went to the local church growing up wherever and whatever that may have been and I've turned out to be a lovely, well rounded (in fact, a little too round :( ) individual. I feel the "big day" has lost the personal touch and they squish in as many as possible - at our last Communion the dress cost over 500 Euros, hair and make up, photographers, restaurants.................. ok, skip the dress, hair and make up for your son :oops: but still a costly day, perhaps? I bought my daughter a fancy dress for 20 Euros and said we could have a little party at home to celebrate when all the kids were talking about their party at school - she forgot all about it and I sold the dress at a boot sale recently!

User avatar
karandjon
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2195
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:03 am
Location: Matalascañas

Re: How important is a Christening here in Spain?

Postby karandjon » Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:42 pm

Hi Scot, Thanks for that info. I am now leaning towards not having a Christening and going with the flow like you guys, when he's older.

What age is it they have this Communion, big party, expensive do, by the way? Do they have one every year or is it a one off?

Thanks,

Karen
vino, sol y aire, y seras rico como nadie

Ama
Resident
Posts: 359
Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:27 pm
Location: Málaga

Re: How important is a Christening here in Spain?

Postby Ama » Mon Aug 31, 2009 10:39 pm

karandjon wrote:What age is it they have this Communion, big party, expensive do, by the way? Do they have one every year or is it a one off?
Communion is taken when children are in 4º (in May of the year they will be 10), although in some cases it can be taken earlier (a brother or sister joint event). There is usually a three year preparation (Catequesis) once a week, each church is organised differently, normally during the first year the parent has to attend too. Children are expected to go to mass every Sunday. To take the communion they have to have been christened (at any age).

In general the spanish expect children to be christened, but with the variety of religions in school I cannot imagine this would be an issue for a child.

My children are not christened, I was going to (mainly for the family), but when I went to church to enquire the priest was not interested in christening my daughter because we are not married. So I thought well if the church aren't interested then I am certainly not. (this is only 9 yrs ago....). The children are in catholic religion at school and enjoy it: bible stories, christian attitude, Xmas, Easter, eg. I asked my daughter when she was 6 if she wanted to prepare for her communion and the answer was 'No communion but I still want to go to religion class at school'. In a class of 26 there are about 11 not doing their communion (30 years ago I guess I was the only one not to take communion).


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 20 guests