‘Impressed by Good Citizenship’

FOR many years the Roman Catholic Church in Spain succeeded in influencing the government to restrict the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses. But since July 1970, under a new law of religious liberty, the Spanish government has granted the Witnesses legal recognition. And now they are the second-largest religious group in the country, with over 30,000 persons sharing each month in the public witnessing work.

Last August Jehovah’s Witnesses held nine “Sacred Service” District Assemblies throughout Spain. The combined peak attendance was 51,420, with 1,733 persons symbolizing their dedication to God’s service by being baptized. Pablo Morán, writing in the Hoja del Lunes de Gijón of August 9, 1976, reported regarding the gathering of over 10,000 Witnesses in Gijón, Oviedo:

“Jehovah’s Witnesses have impressed me by their good citizenship, which on this occasion is above all a symbol of cleanliness and hygiene. . . .

“And being clean is not just having a shower and changing your underwear every day. No, being clean is taking care of the surroundings in which we live, whether it be the beach, the countryside or the street. . . . In other words, being clean is what Jehovah’s Witnesses have been in El Molinón, where many thousands have attended and where not even one cigarette butt, or one scrap of paper, or food trash was to be found.

“One thinks that if Gijón en masse were to be converted to the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Gijón would be the cleanest and best kept city in the world.”