{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] --> {{Infobox Christian denomination | icon = Emblem of the Papacy SE.svg | icon_width = 25px | icon_alt = | name = Catholic Church in Spain | native_name = {{langx|es|Iglesia Católica en España}} | native_name_lang = | image = Sevilla Cathedral - Southeast.jpg | imagewidth = | alt = | caption = [[Seville Cathedral|Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See]] in [[Seville]] | abbreviation = | type = [[National polity]] | main_classification = [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] | orientation = [[Latin Church|Latin]] | scripture = [[Bible]] | theology = [[Catholic theology|Catholic]] | polity = [[Episcopal polity|Episcopal]] | governance = [[Episcopal Conference of Spain]] | structure = | leader_title = [[Pope]] | leader_name = {{incumbent pope}} | leader_title1 = [[Primate (bishop)|Primate]] [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toledo|Archbishop of Toledo]] | leader_name1 = [[Francisco Cerro Chaves]] | leader_title2 = President of the [[Episcopal Conference]] | leader_name2 = Luis Javier Argüello García | fellowships_type1 = | fellowships1 = | division_type = | division = | division_type1 = | division1 = | division_type2 = | division2 = | division_type3 = | division3 = | associations = | area = [[Spain]], [[Andorra]] | language = [[Ecclesiastical Latin|Latin]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Basque language|Basque]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Galician language|Galician]] | headquarters = Calle Añastro, 1. 28033 [[Madrid]] | founder = [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]] [[James the Great|James]] and [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]] | founded_date = 1st century | founded_place = [[Hispania]], [[Roman Empire]] | separated_from = | parent = | merger = | absorbed = | separations = [[Protestantism in Spain]]<br>[[Palmarian Catholic Church]] | merged_into = | defunct = | congregations_type = | congregations = | members = 32,364,000<ref name="Aleteia">{{Cite web|url=https://aleteia.org/2019/01/18/the-top-10-most-catholic-countries-in-the-world/|title=The top 10 most Catholic countries in the world|date=January 18, 2019|website=Aleteia — Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture}}</ref> | ministers_type = | ministers = | missionaries = | churches = | hospitals = | nursing_homes = | aid = | primary_schools = | secondary_schools = | tax_status = | tertiary = | other_names = | publications = | website = [https://www.conferenciaepiscopal.es/ conferenciaepiscopal.es] | slogan = | logo = | footnotes = }} {{Catholic Church by country}} [[Image:Toledo Cathedral, from Plaza del Ayuntamiento.jpg|200px|thumb|The [[Toledo Cathedral]], seat of the [[Primacy of the Diocese of Toledo|Primates of Spain]]]] [[File:Basílica de Santiago 02.JPG|200px|thumb|right|[[Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela]]]] The '''Spanish Catholic Church''', or '''Catholic Church in Spain''', is part of the [[Catholic Church]] under the spiritual leadership of the [[Pope]] in [[Holy See|Rome]], and the [[Spanish Episcopal Conference]].
The [[Spanish Constitution of 1978]] establishes the non-denominationality of the State, providing that the public authorities take into account the religious beliefs of society, maintaining cooperative relations with the Catholic Church and other confessions. Thus, the relations between the Spanish State and the Holy See are regulated by the 1976 agreement and the three 1979 agreements, which modified and replaced the previous 1953 concordat.<ref>Rouco Varela, Antonio Mª (1996). [https://web.archive.org/web/20131212113558/http://dspace.unav.es/dspace/bitstream/10171/17028/1/IC_XXXVI-72_02.pdf . RELACIONES IGLESIA-ESTADO EN LA ESPAÑA DEL SIGLO XXI.]</ref><ref>Llamazares Fernández, Dionisio [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083228/http://www.olir.it/areetematiche/103/documents/Llamazares_Fernandez_Acuerdos.pdf . Los Acuerdos del Estado español con la Santa Sede.]</ref>
==History== {{Main|History of the Catholic Church in Spain}}
According to {{bibleverse|Romans|15:28|NIV}}, Christianity could have been present in Spain from a very early period. [[Paul the Apostle|St. Paul]] intended to go to [[Hispania]] to preach the gospel there after visiting the Romans along the way. But there is no clear evidence if he ever made it.<ref>Early Church History [https://earlychurchhistory.org/beliefs-2/st-paul-went-to-spain/]</ref> After 410 AD, Spain was taken over by the [[Visigoths]] who had been converted to [[Arianism]] around 360. From the 5th to the 7th century, [[Councils of Toledo|about thirty synods]], were held at [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] to regulate and standardise matters of discipline, decreed uniformity of liturgy throughout the kingdom (see the [[Unidad católica de España]]). [[Spain in the Middle Ages|Medieval Spain]] was the scene of almost constant warfare between Islamic and Christian kingdoms. Islamic and Christian people generally lived in peaceful co-existence under Islamic rule such as in [[Al-Andalus]], as long as the Christians paid the religious taxes and held no weapons in their homes, with many instances of inter-religious marriage, of Muslim men with Christian women focusing on converting masses to Islam through the familiar power of the father-figure back then. However, there was tension from the [[Pope]] and the [[Catholic Church]] to oppose Islamic rule in Spain and to "reclaim" Europe. This was the period of the so-called "[[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain]]". The [[Almohads]], who had taken control of the [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravids]]' Maghrebi and Andalusian territories by 1147, far surpassed the Almoravids in [[Islamic fundamentalism]], and they notably treated the non-Islamic ''[[dhimmi]]s'' harshly. Faced with the choice of death, conversion, or emigration, many Jews fled to North Africa and Egypt.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Medieval/IntergroupTO/JewishMuslim/Almohads.htm |title=The Almohads |access-date=2013-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213223723/http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Medieval/IntergroupTO/JewishMuslim/Almohads.htm |archive-date=2009-02-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The [[Reconquista]] was the long process by which the Catholics reconquered Spain from Islamic rule by 1492. The [[Spanish Inquisition]] was established in 1478 to complete the religious purification of the Iberian Peninsula. In the centuries that followed, Spain saw itself as the bulwark of Catholicism and doctrinal purity.
Spanish missionaries carried Catholicism to the [[Americas]] and the [[Philippines]], establishing various missions in the newly colonized lands. The missions served as a base for both administering colonies as well as spreading Christianity.
According to [[Juan Avilés Farré]], Catholicism constituted the "doctrinal basis of the most significant organizations of the anti-democratic and anti-liberal right-wing" in Spain developed in the period going from the demise of right-wing liberal conservatism led by [[Cánovas del Castillo]] to the installment of the [[Francoist dictatorship]], including [[maurism]], [[Patriotic Union (Spain)|Patriotic Union]], the group around [[Acción Española]] and [[Falange Española]].<ref>{{Cite book|pages=255–263|chapter=Catolicismo y derecha autoritaria. Del maurismo a Falange Española|title=Religión y sociedad en España (siglos XIX y XX)|editor-first=Paul|editor-last=Aubert|year=2002|location=Madrid|publisher=[[Casa de Velázquez]]|first=Juan|last=Avilés Farré|series=Collection de la Casa de Velázquez |isbn=9788490961124 |author-link=Juan Avilés Farré|chapter-url=https://books.openedition.org/cvz/2771?lang=es}}</ref>
The Catholic Church in Spain supported [[Francisco Franco]] in the [[Spanish Civil War]] and afterwards established a [[National Catholicism|close relationship]] with the Spanish state, with many Catholic priests serving in the government. After the [[Second Vatican Council]], relations between Church and State started to deteriorate, especially during the reign of [[Pope Paul VI]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Philpott |first1=Daniel |title=The Catholic Wave |journal=Journal of Democracy |date=2004 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=32–46 |doi=10.1353/jod.2004.0034|s2cid=143415167 }}</ref>
== Sites == [[File:Sagrada Família. Façana del Naixement (cropped).jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[Sagrada Família]] in Barcelona]] {{see also|Cathedrals in Spain}} The Spanish Church oversees one of the greatest repositories of religious architecture (and art) in the world, among them the outstanding [[cathedrals]] of [[Cathedral–Mosque of Córdoba|Cordoba]] (originally built as a church and then replaced by a mosque during Moorish rule, to be subsequently reconsecrated as a Church), [[Santiago de Compostela Cathedral|Santiago de Compostela]], [[Burgos Cathedral|Burgos]], [[León Cathedral|León]], [[Seville Cathedral|Seville]], [[Toledo Cathedral|Toledo]] and the [[Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar]] in [[Zaragoza]]. There are also magnificent monasteries like [[Monasteries of San Millán de la Cogolla|San Millán]] and [[Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos|Silos]] in [[La Rioja (Spain)|La Rioja]], [[Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey|Monstserrat]] and [[Poblet Monastery|Poblet]] in [[Catalonia]], [[El Escorial]] and [[Monastery of El Paular|El Paular]] in [[Community of Madrid|Madrid]], [[Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes|San Juan de los Reyes]] in [[Castile-La Mancha]], the [[Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas]] in [[Castile and Leon]], or churches like [[Sagrada Família]] in [[Barcelona]] by [[Antoni Gaudí]].
==Festivals and pilgrimages==
===Holy Week=== [[Holy Week]] ({{langx|es|Semana Santa}}) in Spain attracts thousands of pilgrims and tourists alike. For centuries Holy Week has had a special significance in the church calendar in Spain, where early on Good Friday the darkened streets of dawn become the stage for solemn processions and celebrations that lead up to festivities of Easter Sunday. Fifty-eight processions (according to a 2008 guide) parallel the health and wealth of the city from the 16th and 17th centuries of its golden age to the French Invasion in the 18th century and finally to its rebirth today in the twentieth century. Despite church attendances falling, in common with the rest of Europe, the Easter processions are expanding, as many newly formed brotherhoods have asked for permission from bishops and other authorities to process during Holy Week.<ref>Brian Whelan, "Amid the smell of incense came the purple-hooded Nazarenes," ''The Tablet'', 22 March 2008, 16.</ref>
===Way of Saint James=== For over a thousand years, Europeans living north of the Alps have made their way to the closest place in Europe "where they could access the spiritual authority of an Apostle: Santiago de Compostela".<ref>Kevin A. Codd, "El Camino Speaks," ''America'', 15 December 2003, 8.</ref> In 2007, for example, over 100,000 people walked to Santiago de Compostela alone.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/06/07/do0706.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614035043/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/06/07/do0706.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-06-14 |first=Christopher |last=Howse |title=Blisterless on the road to Santiago |publisher=The Telegraph |date=2008-06-07 |access-date=2008-08-07}}</ref>
==Statistics== There are over 42 million baptized, covering about 92% of the total population. There are 70 [[diocese]]s and [[archdiocese]]s. Some studies indicate that the percentage of the population that identifies as Catholic is closer to 60%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cis.es/cis/export/sites/default/-Archivos/Marginales/3340_3359/3344/es3344mar.pdf |title=Barometer for December 2021}}</ref> In spite of strong traditions, most Spaniards do not participate regularly in religious services. A study conducted in October 2006 by the Spanish Centre of [[Sociology of religion|Sociological Research]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mas.lne.es/documentos/archivos/20-11-06-cis.pdf|title=Centre of Sociological Investigations}}</ref> shows that of the Spaniards who identify themselves as religious, 54% hardly ever or never go to church (except for wedding and funerals), 15% go to church some times a year, 10% some time per month and 19% every Sunday or multiple times per week. A huge majority of young Spaniards, including those who self-identify as Catholic, ignore the Church's stance on issues such as [[pre-marital sex]], [[sexual orientation]] or [[contraception]].<ref name="DAWN">{{cite news |last = Tarvainen |first = Sinikka |title = Reforms anger Spanish church |publisher = Dawn International |date = 2004-09-26 |url = https://www.dawn.com/news/396831/reforms-anger-spanish-church|access-date = 2008-03-21}}</ref><ref name="WWRN">{{cite news|title =Zapatero accused of rejecting religion|publisher =Worldwide Religious News|date =2004-10-15|url =http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=15453&sec=59&con=53|access-date =2008-03-21|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20081023070458/http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=15453&sec=59&con=53|archive-date =2008-10-23|url-status =dead}}</ref><ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last = Loewenberg |first = Samuel |title = As Spaniards Lose Their Religion, Church Leaders Struggle to Hold On |newspaper = New York Times |date = 2005-06-26 |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/weekinreview/26loew.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |access-date = 2008-10-21}}</ref><ref name="CSMONITOR">{{cite news |last = Pingree |first = Geoff |title = Secular drive challenges Spain's Catholic identity |newspaper = Christian Science Monitor |date = 2004-10-01 |url = https://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1001/p07s02-woeu.htm |access-date = 2008-10-21}}</ref><ref>Samuel Lowenberg, "Church Leaders Struggle to Hold On," ''The New York Times'' 26 June 2005, 4.</ref> 75% of Spanish Catholics support [[same-sex marriage]] and 13% oppose it. 91% of Spanish Catholics believe society should accept [[gay]] people while 8% believe society should not accept gays.<ref>[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/02/how-catholics-around-the-world-see-same-sex-marriage-homosexuality/ How Catholics around the world see same-sex marriage, homosexuality] ''[[Pew Research Center]]''</ref>
The total number of parish priests has shrunk from 24,300 in 1975 to 19,307 in 2005. Nuns also dropped 6.9% to 54,160 in the period 2000–2005.<ref name=ESTADISTICA2005>{{cite web|url=http://www.csviator.es/revista/424/ESTADISTICA-IGLESIA-ESPA%C3%91A.pdf|title=Estadísticas de la Iglesia en España, 2005|access-date=2007-05-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091220210049/http://www.csviator.es/revista/424/ESTADISTICA-IGLESIA-ESPA%C3%91A.pdf|archive-date=2009-12-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>
According to the Eurobarometer 69 (2008), another independent source, only 3% of Spaniards consider religion as one of their three most important values, while the European mean is 7%.<ref name=EUROBAROMETER69>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb69/eb69_values_en.pdf|title=Eurobarometer 69 - Values of Europeans - page 16|access-date=2009-03-24}}</ref>
In 2026, the Spanish Bishops’ Conference published a doctrinal note about the "observed signs that indicate a rebirth of Christian faith especially among young Spaniards from Gen Z."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/faith-cannot-be-reduced-to-emotions-spanish-bishops-warn-gen-z-converts/|title=Faith cannot be ‘reduced to emotions’, Spanish bishops warn Gen Z converts|date=13 March 2026|access-date=23 March 2026|website=The Tablet}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Spain|Catholicism}} * [[Catholicism in the Second Spanish Republic]] * [[Collective Letter of the Spanish Bishops, 1937]] * [[Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War]] * [[Religion in Spain]] ** [[Eastern Orthodoxy in Spain]] ** [[Protestantism in Spain]] *** [[Anglicanism in Spain]] * [[Saints of Catalonia]]
==References== {{Reflist}} * {{Cite web |url=http://www.cis.es/cis/opencms/-Archivos/Marginales/2600_2619/2610/Cru261000EDAD.html |title=Survey |publisher= Sociological Research Center - [[Madrid]], Spain |access-date=2008-08-07|language=es}}
==Further reading== * Callahan, William J. ''The Catholic Church in Spain, 1875–1998'' (1998; reprint 2012) * Jedin, Hubert, and John Dolan, eds. ''History of the Church, Volume X: The Church in the Modern Age'' (1989) * Lannon, Frances. ''Privilege, Persecution, and Prophecy. The Catholic Church in Spain 1875–1975.'' (Oxford UP, 1987) * Payne, Stanley G. ''Spanish Catholicism: An Historical Overview'' (1984) * Relaño Pastor, Eugenia. "Spanish Catholic Church in Franco Regime: A Marriage of Convenience," ''Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte: Internationale Zeitschrift für Theologie und Geschichtswissenschaft'' (2007) 20#2 pp 275–287. * Vincent, Mary. "Spain", in Tom Buchanan and Martin Conway, eds., ''Political Catholicism in Europe, 1918–1965'' (Oxford 1996)
{{Catholic dioceses in Spain|state=collapsed}} {{Catholicism in Europe|state=collapsed}} {{Christianity in Spain}}
[[Category:Catholic Church in Spain| ]] [[Category:Catholic Church by country|Spain]] [[Category:Catholic Church in Europe|Spain]] [[Category:Pauline churches|Spain]] [[Category:Culture of Spain]]