Country Background:

• Population:  40.2 million                                      
• Religions:  Roman Catholic 94%, Other 6%
• Per Capita Income: $21,152.52 year/ $58.75 day
• Government Type: Parliamentary monarchy
  Chief of State: King JUAN CARLOS I (since November 1975)
  Head of Government: President of the Government Jose Luis RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO (since April 2004)

Legal Background:

• Estimated number of lawyers in Spain is 200,000
• Estimated number of believers involved in the legal profession is 100
• The name of the local Christian group is Evangelical Law Association (ELA), organized in the 1980’s and led by Mr. Eliseo Gómez-Lor Pérez. Currently, ELA has an active network of 20 Christian lawyers.

Major Activities:

       ELA’s lawyers are involved in the following activities:

• Exchanging personal requests and information on professional ethics matters between members of the group
• Participating in debates and law cases involving defense of Christian values and religious liberties
• Following the proper implementation of the Evangelical church-state agreement
• Cooperating with other institutions aiming to legally represent Christian churches
• Organizing fellowship and prayer gatherings

Convocation Goals:

• The Global Convocation organized by Advocates International is important to the Christian lawyers from Spain as a step towards establishing good fellowship relations with other participating lawyers. It will encourage the national and international collaboration of Christian lawyers efforts, as well as provide them with a realistic perspective of the global status of religious freedom.

Prayer Items:

• God’s wisdom for completing the final drafts on a statutes the association is amending
• Wisdom for attracting involvement of more Christian Lawyers in the work of the association
• Success in organizing a 2005 national meeting 

Contact Information:

• Eliseo Pérez gomezlor@vodafone.es

ªSpain In Actionª

Christian Lawyers Network in Spain is working in close collaboration with FEREDE (National Federation of Evangelical Churches) in order to improve and implement the Evangelicals/State Cooperation Agreements and to promote official State Religious Neutrality.  These matters deal with the Ministry of Justice Headquarters for Religious Matters so that the state support for the different religious groups will be balanced and proportional, avoiding a situation of practical preferences applied to the Roman Catholic Church within a state with a constitution which declares religious plurality.  Evangelicals in Spain are grateful for the religious liberty they have, but are working towards a situation of real and practical religious equality for all denominations.