The Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church, also translated as Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain, or IERE () is the church of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

in Spain. It was founded in 1880 and since 1980 has been an extra-provincial church under the metropolitan authority of the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

. Its cathedral is the Anglican Cathedral of the Redeemer in Madrid. Exterior of the Cathedral of the Redeemer in Madrid

Doctrine

In keeping with the rest of mainstream

Anglicanism Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

, the IERE claims itself to be part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Christ and his apostles. It claims to maintain

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the Christian ministry, ministry of the Christian Church is considered by some Christian denominations to be derived from the Twelve Apostles, apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been ...

via the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

's bishops and it holds to the threefold ministry of

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

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 denominations, such as the Cathol ...

s. It keeps the three creeds of the Primitive Church. The IERE also claims itself to morally be the continuing church of the ancient pre-Spanish church by maintaining the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

al 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 Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. The IERE was officially organised in 1880 by Cabrera, a former

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

, 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 State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

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

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to visit Spain and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and contributed in organising the congregations into the IERE and the Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church, each with its own

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

ical 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, then Bishop of Meath and later

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

. 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 Church of Ireland. 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 Cathedral of the Redeemer for close to a half-century. The IERE experienced persecution during the

regime In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democratic and autocratic. A key similarity acros ...

of General

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

. 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 church in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. The ordaining bishops were from

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

in Ireland and two bishops from the United States— Reginald Mallett from the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana and Stephen Keeler from the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota. Under Molina the church experienced a resurgence. During his episcopate the IERE signed agreements of intercommunion with numerous provinces of the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, the

, the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () 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 position is currently held b ...

, 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 undiv ...

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

Bishops of the IERE

* Juan Bautista Cabrera Ibarz (1837–1916), first bishop (1896–1916) * Santos Molina Zurita, second bishop (1954–1966) * Ramón Taibo Sienes, third bishop (1967–1983) * Arturo Sánchez Galán, fourth bishop (1983–1995) *

Carlos López Lozano Carlos López Lozano (born 25 May 1962) is a Spanish Anglican bishop. He has been the diocesan Bishop of the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church (IERE), based in Madrid, since 1995.

(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 Isidore of Seville (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...

(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 the Muslim conquest of Hispania. ''"

Mozarab The Mozarabs (from ), or more precisely Andalusi Christians, were the Christians of al-Andalus, or the territories of Iberia under Muslim rule from 711 to 1492. Following the Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania, the Christian ...

"'' is the term for the Christian population living under Muslim rulers in

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

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

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

'' 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 some distinctive features, one being that that after the presiding priest or bishop prays for the absolution of the sins of the congregation, the congregation 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,

ical (parliamentary) polity. The synod is the highest authority in the church; the

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

and clergy have equal representation in it. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

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

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, 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

in November 1995. The church is divided for administrative purposes into three zones:

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Valencian Country, and

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

;

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

and

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

; 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 Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

, and

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

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, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

and the Conference of European Churches. It is in

full communion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations or Christian individuals that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constit ...

with the

es as well as being part of the

Porvoo Communion The Porvoo Communion is a Communion (Christian), communion of 15 predominantly northern European Anglican and Lutheran, Evangelical Lutheran churches, with a couple of far-southwestern European (in the Iberian Peninsula) church bodies of the sa ...

with the Scandinavian

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

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 website
(Spanish)]
Official website of the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in Madrid
(Spanish) {{Authority control Extra-provincial Anglican churches 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