, native_name_lang = , image = File:Sello-iere comunion784x1181.jpg , imagewidth = 150px , alt = , caption = Seal of Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church , abbreviation = SREC , type = , main_classification =

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, orientation = Anglican , scripture = Holy Bible , theology =

Anglican doctrine Anglican doctrine (also called Episcopal doctrine in some countries) is the body of Christian teachings used to guide the religious and moral practices of Anglicans. Approach to doctrine Anglicanism does not possess an agreed-upon confessi ...

, polity = Episcopal , governance = , structure = , leader_title = Primate , leader_name = Archbishop

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for ...

, leader_title1 = Bishop , leader_name1 = Rev. Carlos López Lozano , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = , leader_title3 = , leader_name3 = , fellowships_type = , fellowships = , fellowships_type1 = , fellowships1 = , division_type = Extra-provincial church , division = Spanish extra-provincial church within Anglican communion , division_type1 = , division1 = , division_type2 = , division2 = , division_type3 = , division3 = , associations =

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

Porvoo Communion , area =

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, language = Spanish , liturgy = Mozarabic Rite , headquarters =

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, origin_link = , founder = , founded_date = 1868 , founded_place = , separated_from = , branched_from = , merger = , absorbed = , separations = , merged_into = , defunct = , congregations_type = , congregations = , members = 5,000 , ministers_type = , ministers = , missionaries = , churches = , hospitals = , nursing_homes = , aid = , primary_schools = , secondary_schools = , tax_status = , tertiary = , other_names = , publications = , website
Official Site of the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church (in Spanish)
, slogan = , logo = , footnotes = The Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church, also translated as Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain, or IERE ( es, Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal) is the church of the

. It was founded in 1880 and since 1980 has been an extra-provincial church under the metropolitan authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Its cathedral is the

Anglican Cathedral of the Redeemer The Cathedral of the Redeemer ( es, Catedral Anglicana del Redentor) is a Protestant (Anglican) church in Madrid. It is the principal church of the Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain which is a member of the Anglican Communion. History and lo ...

in Madrid. Exterior of the Cathedral of the Redeemer in Madrid

Doctrine

In keeping with the rest of mainstream Anglicanism, the IERE considers itself to be part of the

One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church The Four Marks of the Church, also known as the Attributes of the Church, describes four distinctive adjectives of traditional Christian ecclesiology as expressed in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed completed at the First Council of Constanti ...

established by Christ and his apostles. It claims to maintain apostolic succession via the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

's bishops and it holds to the threefold ministry of

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

s and

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

s. It keeps the three creeds of the Primitive Church. The IERE considers itself to morally be the continuing church of the ancient pre-Spanish Church by maintaining the sacramental system as handed down through the Mozarabic Rite. Due to its Reformed tradition, some would say this is largely a Church that places itself within the confines of the Evangelical stream of Anglicanism.

History

Plaque in the Cathedral of the Redeemer in Madrid

The Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church was formed "...being born of individuals who left the Church of Rome for reasons of Biblical conscience but desired epsicopacy and an ordered vernacular liturgy for which Anglicanism provided the original precedent." The IERE considers its origin to be in 1868 when the "Consistorio General de la Iglesia en España" (General Consistory of the Church in Spain) was formed by Juan Bautista Cabrera in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. The IERE was officially organised in 1880 by Cabrera, a former Roman Catholic priest, and other former Catholic priests and Reformed ministers. In 1878 he had requested the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

to consecrate a bishop. In 1880 the (Anglican) Episcopal Church in the United States sent a missionary-bishop of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to visit Spain and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and contributed in organizing the congregations into the IERE and the

Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church The Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church ( pt, Igreja Lusitana Católica Apostólica Evangélica) in Portugal is a member church of the Anglican Communion. Membership The church has around 5,000 members. Structure As an Episcopal den ...

, each with its own synodical government. At the Synod of 1880, Cabrera was elected the first bishop of the IERE, under the pastoral care of

William Plunket, 4th Baron Plunket William Conyngham Plunket, 4th Baron Plunket (26 August 1828 – 1 April 1897) was Dean of Christ Church Cathedral and Archbishop of Dublin in the Church of Ireland. Life Born in Dublin, he was the eldest son of John Plunket, 3rd Baron Plun ...

, then

Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Unt ...

and later Archbishop of Dublin. He had been interested in the two Iberian churches and determined to act to consecrate a bishop in Spain. The church remained without a bishop for a time after Cabrera died in 1916 and was placed under the authority of the

. For a lengthy period from 1935 to 1951 there was not a single episcopal visit to Spain. Fernando Cabrera, son of the Church's first bishop, was elected to be the next bishop, but he died in 1954 before being consecrated. Fernando Cabrera served as rector of the

for close to a half-century. The IERE experienced persecution during the

regime In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

of General Francisco Franco. Prior to Franco's regime, beginning in the 1850s, the majority of the residents of Villaescusa belonged to the Episcopal Church, but, in 1936, the Franco government seized the church's building and the congregation declined. In 1954, Santos M. Molina was consecrated as a bishop. The consecration took place behind closed doors at his parish in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. The ordaining bishops were from Meath in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and two bishops from the

Episcopal Church (United States) The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop ...

—Bishop Reginald Mallett from the

Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana, originally called the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan City, is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with jurisdiction over the northern one-third of Indiana. It is in Prov ...

and Bishop Stephen Keeler from the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota. Under Molina the church experienced a resurgence. During the episcopate of Molina the IERE signed agreements of intercommunion with numerous provinces of the Anglican Communion, including

, the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The p ...

, the Anglican Church of South Africa, the Episcopal Church of the Philippines, and the

Old Catholic Church The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivide ...

. In 1980 the IERE became an extra-provincial diocese under the metropolitan authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Bishops of the IERE

* Rev. Juan Bautista Cabrera Ibarz (1837–1916), First bishop (1896–1916) * Rev. Santos Molina Zurita, Second bishop (1954–1966) * Rev. Ramón Taibo Sienes, Third bishop (1967–1983) * Rev. Arturo Sánchez Galán, Fourth bishop (1983–1995) * Rev. Carlos López Lozano (b. 1962), Fifth bishop (From 1995)

Liturgy

The IERE uses the Mozarabic Rite, also known as the Hispanic Rite, a Latin liturgical rite. It dates principally to the 7th and 8th centuries. St. Isidore of Seville (d. 636), who was influential at the Fourth Council of Toledo 633, according to the wishes of that Council, gave the Hispanic rite its final form before Muslim conquest of Hispania. Mozarab is the term for the Christian population living under Muslim rulers in

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...

. Previous to its organization, there were several translations of the Anglican ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

'' into Spanish in 1623 and in 1707. In 1881 the church combined a Spanish translation of the 1662 edition of the ''Book of Common Prayer'' with the Mozarabic liturgy, which had recently been translated. This is apparently the first time the Spanish speaking Anglicans inserted their own "...historic, national tradition of liturgical worship within an Anglican prayer book." A second edition was released in 1889, and a revision in 1975. This attempt combined the Anglican structure of worship with indigenous prayer traditions. An experimental "Rito 1" or "Rite 1" for the church dating from 1984 has a few interesting aspects. One item is that after the president (a presbyter or the bishop if he is in the presbyter seating) prays for the absolution of the sins of the congregation, the assembly responds by praying in turn for the absolution of the sins of the president: "God have mercy on you also, forgive you your sins through Jesus Christ and give you eternal life by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Organisation

The IERE has a democratic, synodical (parliamentary) polity. The Synod is the highest authority in the Church; the laity and clergy have equal representation in it. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

es are represented by one cleric and by one lay person. The Synod elects the Standing Committee, which governs the Church between synods. The IERE is not a Church with an episcopal government, like the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, but is a synodical Church governed by a bishop in synod. The bishop and the synod are required to work together in close co-operation. The current diocesan bishop is Carlos López Lozano, a Madrilene who was ordained as bishop by the Archbishop of Canterbury in November 1995. The Church is divided for administrative purposes into three zones:

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

Valencian Country The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid ...

, and Balearic Islands;

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

and Canary Islands; Centre and Northern Spain. As of 2001, the IERE had one diocese and 22 licensed priests (one woman) serving 20 parishes, in

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

, Oviedo,

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

, and

Affiliations

Together with the Church of England chaplaincies of the Diocese in Europe, the IERE is the representative of the

in Spain. It belongs to the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain (FEDERE) and is member of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

and the

Conference of European Churches The Conference of European Churches (CEC) was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions. In its commitment to Europe as a who ...

. It is in full communion with the

es as well as being part of the Porvoo Communion with the Scandinavian

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

churches.

References

Bibliography

* Busquets, José. ''Cien Años de Testimonio: 1880–1980''. Madrid: IERE, 1980. * Church of England
The Lusitanian Church, Catholic, Apostolic, Evangelical, and the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church
Report of the Commission Appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Etc. ondon Church Information Office, 1963. * C., R. S., R. Stewart CLOUGH, and William Conyngham PLUNKET
The Revised Prayer-Book of the Reformed Spanish Church, As Authorised by the Synod of That Church, May, 1889
Translated by R.S.C. .E. R.S. Clough.With an Introduction by the Most Rev. Lord Plunket, D.D., Archbishop of Dublin. Second Edition. Alex. Thom & Co: Dublin, 1894. * Cruzado, J
Oficios Divinos Y Administracion De Los Sacramentos Y Otros Ritos En La Iglesia Española Reformada
Madrid, 1889. * de Olaiz Fresno, Miguel. ''La Iglesia Catedral del Redentor.'' IERE: Madrid, 1994. * Estruch, Juan. 1968
"HOW CAN THERE BE PROTESTANTS IN SPAIN?"
The Ecumenical Review. 20, no. 1: 53-62. Notes: Mr. JUAN ESTRUCH is a layman of the Spanish Episcopal Reformed Church and is Youth Secretary for his Church. At present he is studying religious sociology at Louvain. * Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal
La Iglesia Episcopal En España = The Episcopal Church in Spain
adrid Departmento de Publicaciones de la IERE, 1984. * Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal, and Alexander R. C. Dallas
"The Declaration Set Forth by the Central Consistory of the Spanish Reformed Church: With Some Account of the Members and Their Meetings at Gibraltar on the 25th April and the 1st June, 1868"
London: William Macintosh, 1868. Translated from the Spanish by the Rev. Alexander Dallas. * Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal, and Colin Ogilvie Buchanan
Liturgies of the Spanish and Portuguese Reformed Episcopal Churches
Grove, 1985. ; 9781851740079. * Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal, and William Conyngham Plunket Plunket
The Revised Prayer-Book of the Reformed Spanish Church
(As Authorised by the Synod of That Church, May, 1889). Dublin: Alex. Thom, 1894. Notes: Added t.p.: The Divine Office and administration of the sacraments and other ordinances in the Reformed Spanish Church. Madrid: Printed by J. Cruzado, 1889. Other Titles: Divine offices and administration of the sacraments and other ordinances in the Reformed Spanish Church. Oficios divinos y administracion de los sacramentos y otros ritos en la Iglesia Española reformada. * Irwin, O. A. C
Pilgrim Churches: The Spanish and Portuguese Reformed Episcopal Churches
ondon, England oughton & Sons, Ltd. 1956.
Liturgia de la Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal (1954)
* Lopez Lozano, Carlos, Jefferey Rowthorn, Mbele-Mbong, Diana Webster, Fernando da Luz, Jeffery W. (Jeffery William), and Ken (John Kenneth)
Churches of the Anglican Communion in Continental Europe: Diocese in Europe (Church of England), Convocation of American Churches in Europe (Episcopal Church of the USA), Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church of Portugal, Spanish Episcopal Reformed Church
London, Madrid, Paris, Porto: College of Anglican Bishops in Continental Europe (COABICE), 1998. * Noyes, H. E
''Church Reform in Spain and Portugal: A Short History of the Reformed Episcopal Churches of Spain and Portugal, from 1868 to the Present Time''
1897 * Palomino, Rafael
Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church
2011. Abstract: The Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church belongs to the Anglican Communion and preserves the ancient Christian liturgy of the Visigoths and Mozarabs. * Plunket, William C
The Divine Offices and Other Formularies of the Reformed Episcopal Churches of Spain and Portugal
.. (The Divine Offices and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Ordinances in the Spanish Church. 1882. Responsibility: translated in a condensed form by R. Stewart Clough. - The Book of Common Prayer, administration of the Sacraments, and other divine offices for the use of the Lusitanian Church. Translated from the Portuguese by the Rev. T. Godfrey P. Pope.) With an introduction by ... Lord Plunket ... Bishop of Meath.

* Rowthorn, Jeffery. "Anglican Churches in Europe." Pages 439-442. IN: Hefling, Charles C., and Cynthia L. Shattuc
The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

External links

Official Site of the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church (in Spanish)Official Site of the Anglican Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in Madrid (in Spanish)
{{Authority control Extra-provincial Anglican churches Anglicanism in Europe Anglican Communion church bodies Anglicanism in Spain Members of the World Council of Churches Religious organizations established in 1880 Anglican organizations established in the 19th century 1880 establishments in Spain