“Please remember there are Protestant churches in Spain.”
The Spanish pastors extended their hands, inviting the Korean churches to “come and help us.” In an interview with Kukmin Daily on May 22, Executive Secretary Mariano Blazquez Burgo (59·right in photo) and Coordinator Manuel Garcia Lafuente (65·left), both of the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain (FEREDE), said, “We would like to collaborate with the Korean churches, which have gone through dramatic growth during their short history.”
Earlier that day, the two pastors had visited Onnuri Community Church (Rev. Lee Jaehoon) in Seoul, and KwangMyung Church (Rev. Choi Nam-su) in Euijeongbu city, Gyeonggi-do. Burgo said, “There are a lot of things we can learn from the Korean church. The Protestant church in Spain has been persecuted by the Roman Catholics, and this continues even today.”
According to Operation World (2010), 77% of the Spanish population is Roman Catholic. Persons with no religious affinity make up 19.4%, and the rest are Muslims (2.4%), Jews (0.7%), and Buddhists (0.4%). Protestants are estimated at approximately 200,000 persons. Burgo said, “There are 3,300 local churches with an average attendance of about 60 members.”
Islam entered the Iberian Peninsula around the eighth century A.D. and came to rule over ⅔ of the land of Spain. In 1492, the Catholic monarchies in the North joined forces and succeeded in driving out the Islamic powers. Through the Alhambra Decree, religious trials were held to expel Jews, Muslims, and Reformists. This was one of the reasons why Spain was not influenced by the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.
Today’s Spanish Protestant Church has developed from its 7,000 believers in 1936 during the civil war. The most active denomination is said to be the Pentecostal church, which has many Gypsy members.
Recently a growing number of Protestants have been spreading the Gospel on pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela. The Roman Catholic impact is stagnating due to the rapid spread of secularization, multiculturalism, and religious pluralism.
Burgo said, “We would love to work together with the Korean church in various ways. Come and help our Protestant churches in Spain."
Article and photo by reporter Sangmok Shin (smshin@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Click here for the original article in Korean
“Spanish Protestant churches would like to gain strength through the Korean churches”
2016-05-25 16:58
