Orthodox community given use of a church in southern Spain

The Orthodox community of the Protection of the Mother of God in the city of Granada in south-central Spain found a church home this week.

On Tuesday, October 13, Archbishop Nestor of Madrid and Lisbon of the Russian Orthodox Church met with the Roman Catholic Archbishop Francisco Javier Martínez Fernández of Granada, resulting in an agreement whereby the Church of St. Bartholomew in the city center, was transferred to the use of the Holy Protection Orthodox parish community, reports the site of the Diocese of Spain and Portugal.

The parish community was registered in the diocese in 2018.

The next day, Abp. Nestor visited the parish on its patronal feast day of the Holy Protection of the Mother of God and celebrated the Divine Liturgy.

Following the service, he discussed the future of the parish with the parishioners and the plans for moving into the building provided by the Catholic Archdiocese of Granada.

Many new Orthodox communities have developed in Spain and Portugal in recent years. The Ukrainian Church opened two parishes in two months in late 2017, and early the next year, the Russian Church was given territory in Portugal twice within a month.

In March 2018, a church was consecrated in the Spanish seaside city of Torrevieja, and in September that year, construction began on a church in Estepona, Spain.

In November 2019, the first Romanian Orthodox monastery was consecrated in Portugal, and in September of this year, the Moscow Patriarchate began building its first church in Portugal.

In October 2018, the feast of 200 saints of Spain and Portugal was celebrated for the first time by Romanian and Russian hierarchs in Spain, and in December of that year, the Russian Church added 80 of the Iberian saints to its calendar.

Source: Orthochristian.com