The study, carried out by the Catholic Bible Federation (CBF) and presented at the Vatican, puts Spain at the bottom of a list of nine countries the report investigated. Not only that, but Spaniards are those who know least about the content of the Bible. The report looked at the situation in nine countries - USA, UK, Germany, Holland, France, Poland, Russia, Spain and Italy - and attempted to see what relationship existed between the adult population and the Holy Scriptures.

France is very close to Spain with only 21% having read the Bible in the last 12 months. Reading up the list, Italy comes next with 27%, Germany 28%, Holland 31%, Russia 35%, Great Britain 36% and Poland 38%. However, the difference between Europe and the USA is huge, with three out of four Americans saying they have read from the Bible during the past year.

One thing is reading it; another is knowing what it contains. Once again, Spaniards did not come out very well. Faced with questions like, ´Are the Gospels part of the Bible?´, ´Is Paul in the Old or New Testaments?´, and ´Did Jesus write a Gospel?´, only 17% of those asked in Spain answered correctly. This compares with 18% in Russia, 25% in Holland and 28% in France. The highest percentages of those with some basic Bible knowledge, between 32% and 37%, are the Americans, British, Germans, Italians and Poles. At the report´s presentation, the Chairman of the CBF, Vincenzo Paglia, said the “ignorance” and “lack of general Bible knowledge” means it is easy for “any old Da Vinci Code to confuse” people.

Interestingly, with the exception of France, the majority of people said they were in favour of the Bible being taught in schools. In Spain, 49% were in favour, 37% against, and 12% undecided. In Italy, 62% are in favour, 26% against, and 10% undecided.

73% of those asked in Spain said they were Catholic, 10% said they were atheist, 6% agnostic and 3% members of other religions. 74% of the Catholics said they went to church, but only 20% of them said they went regularly. 73% of those interviewed in Spain said they pray sometimes, but only 6% of them use the Bible to do so. 63% prefer to use their own words. The investigation was carried out prior to the forthcoming Catholic Bishops´ Synod which meets in Rome in October. Its motto is ´The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church.´