History of Roman Catholicism in Spain

The Catholic Church in Spain has a long history, starting in the 1st century. It is the largest religion in Spain, with 68% of Spaniards identifying as Catholic.

According to romans 15:28 in the Romans, Roman Catholicism and Christianity as whole began in Spain when St. Paul went to Hispania to teach the gospel there after visiting the Romans along the way. Attempts were made from the late 1st century to the late 3rd century to establish the church in the Iberian peninsula. Canons of the Synod of Elvira (circa 305 AD) indicate that the church was greatly isolated from the general population even at that time. The situation of the Christians in Iberia improved with the advent of the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, after which Christians were more or less free to practice their religion openly within the Roman Empire. Over the course of the 4th century, the church built significant footholds particularly around Seville, Cordoba and Toledo.

As Rome declined, Germanic tribes invaded most of the lands of the former empire. In the years following 410 Spain was taken over by the Visigoths who had been converted to Arian Christianity around 360. The Visigothic Kingdom established their capital in Toledo, their kingdom reaching its high point during the reign of Leovigild. Visbecause hfrule led to the expansion of Arianism in Spain. In 587, Reccared, the Visigothic king at Toledo, was converted to Catholicism and launched a movement to unify doctrine. The Council of Lerida in 546 constrained the clergy and extended the power of law over them under the blessings of Rome.

From the 5th to the 7th century, about thirty synods, variously counted, were held at Toledo in what would come to be part of Spain. The earliest, directed against Priscillianism, assembled in 400. The "third" synod of 589 marked the epoch-making conversion of King Reccared from Arianism to orthodox Catholicism. The "fourth", in 633, probably under the presidency of the noted Isidore of Seville, regulated many matters of discipline, decreed uniformity of liturgy throughout the kingdom. The British Celts of Galicia accepted the Latin rite and stringent measures were adopted against baptized Jews who had relapsed into their former faith. The "twelfth" council in 681 assured to the archbishop of Toledo the primacy of Hispania (present Iberian Peninsula). As nearly one hundred early canons of Toledo found a place in the Decretum Gratiani, they exerted an important influence on the development of ecclesiastical law.

...
Wikipedia