Iglesia de Santa María de los Caballeros

Iglesia Catedral de los Santos Andrés y Demetrio, Madrid

Spain is not a traditionally Orthodox country, as after the Great

Schism of 1054 A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

the Spanish Christians (at that time controlling the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula) remained within the sphere of influence of the Church of Rome. The Hispanic Church was part of the undivided Christian church for the first ten centuries of its history until the Great

East-West Schism East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

of 1054. Since then, Spain has remained with the

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 ...

of Rome, which separated from the other ancient Orthodox patriarchates. The number of Orthodox adherents in the country began to increase in the early 1990s, when Spain experienced an influx of migrant workers from Eastern Europe. The dominant nationality among Spanish Orthodox adherents is

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n (as many as 0.7 million people), with Bulgarians, Russians, Ukrainians, Moldovans, and others bringing the total to about 1 million. The number of Orthodox adherents from Spain and other countries that are not traditionally Orthodox has seen an increase in recent years. The territory is covered by the Metropolis of Spain and Portugal (Constantinople), Diocese of Madrid and Lisbon (

Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe (Moscow Patriarchate) The Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe (PEWE, french: Exarchat patriarcal en Europe occidentale, russian: Патриарший экзархат в Западной Европе) is an exarchate created by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) on ...

or PEWE), Diocese of Western Europe ( Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Moscow-ROCOR), Diocese of Western and Central Europe (

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

), Spanish Orthodox Church (

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

), and the Metropolitanate of Western and Southern Europe (

Literature

External links

Canonical Churches:
Holy Metropolis of Spain and Portugal

Iglesia Ortodoxa Española: Official page of Spanish Orthodox Church

Iglesia Rusa Ortodoxa en España
{{Spain-stub

See also

Literature

External links