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The Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church (La Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal) is the representative of the Anglican Communion in Spain. It was founded in 1880 by dissident members of the Roman Catholic Church in Spain and is in full communion with the Old Catholic Churches as well as being part of the Porvoo Communion.
History
The IERE was formed in Gibraltar in 1868, by Juan Bautista Cabrera, former Roman Catholic priest, joined by other ex-Catholic priests and Reformed ministers. For a while Cabrera remained in the Iglesia Evangélica Española, but he left it and in 1878 requested the Church of England to consecrate a bishop. In 1880 the Episcopal Church in the United States sent the missionary-bishop of Mexico, H.C. Riley, to visit Spain and Portugal. He helped to organize the congregations into the IERE and the Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church, each with its own synodical government. In 1883, however, Bishop Riley's episcopal functions were brought to an end in Spain and Portugal due to a disagreement with the American Board of Missions. At the Synod of 1880, Cabrera was elected the first bishop of the IERE, under the pastoral care of William Plunket, 4th Baron Plunket, Bishop of Meath 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, and was placed under the authority of the Church of Ireland. The IERE suffered persecution during the regime of General Francisco Franco. In 1954 Santos M. Molina was consecrated bishop and the church experienced a regrowth. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 legally accepted non-Catholic denominations and granted full freedom of worship. In 1980 the IERE became an extra-provincial diocese under the metropolitan authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury. As of 2001, the IERE had 1 diocese and 22 licensed priests serving 20 parishes. The IERE is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches.
External links
- Official Site of the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church (in Spanish)
- Iglesia de la Ascensión
- Liturgia de la Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal (1954)
- Reformation Movements in Foreign Churches (with Special Reference to Spain and Portugal), by William Conyngham Plunket (1885)
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