Episcopal Conference of Spain Episcopal Conference of Spain The Spanish Episcopal Conference (SEC) is an administrative institution composed of all the bishops of the dioceses of Spain, in communion with the Roman Pontiff and under his authority. Its purpose is the joint exercise certain pastoral functions of the episcopate on the faithful of their territory, under common law and statutes, in order to promote the life of the Church, to strengthen its mission of evangelization and respond more effectively to the greater good that the Church should seek to men. The documents that outline the life and work of the 113 Episcopal Conferences currently
Episcopal polity presbyterian form, except that their councils of bishops have hierarchical jurisdiction over the local ruling bodies to a greater extent than in most Presbyterian and other Reformed churches. As mentioned, the Lutheran Church in Sweden and Finland are exceptions, claiming apostolic succession in a pattern somewhat like the Anglican churches. Otherwise, forms of polity are not mandated in the Lutheran churches, as it is not regarded as having doctrinal significance. Old World Lutheranism, for historical reasons, has tended to adopt Erastian theories of episcopal authority (by which church authority is to a limited extent sanctioned by secular government). In the