A Spanish court has ruled in favour of the Catholic Church in the eviction lawsuit against the former Poor Clare nuns of Belorado, ordering them to leave the monastery they are illegally occupying. Source: CNA.
“The ruling upholds in its entirety the eviction lawsuit filed on September 16, 2024, by the pontifical commissioner as major superior, administrator, and legal representative of the monastery of Belorado,” announced the statement from the office of the pontifical commissioner published on August 1.
The papal commissioner, Archbishop Mario Iceta, is also the archbishop of Burgos, where the monastery is located.
The text specifies that the ruling declares “that the eviction of the defendant [the schismatic former nuns] from the aforementioned property is warranted, the possession of which must be returned to the plaintiff, and orders the defendant to vacate, leave the aforementioned property free and clear, and at the disposal of the plaintiff, with the threat of eviction if they do not do so voluntarily.”
The ruling also emphasises that the schismatic former nuns cannot acquire the property they occupy because it is merely “a gathering of individuals [as opposed to a juridical person] lacking the authority” to do so.
Carlos Azcona of the office of the pontifical commissioner said regarding the case that “it is important to note that this ruling addresses the substance of the matter,” stating that the former nuns’ “so-called conventual chapter” is nothing more than “a gathering of individuals lacking the authority to meet as such a chapter.”
The former Poor Clare nuns of Belorado were excommunicated from the Catholic Church for the crime of schism in June 2024 after announcing in May 2024 that they were leaving the Catholic Church and placing themselves under the tutelage of a false excommunicated bishop.
When they announced their departure from the Catholic Church, the nuns indicated in a letter and a declaration that they recognised Pope Pius XII as the “last valid supreme pontiff,” and claimed that “the see of St Peter is vacant and usurped.”
In addition to the penalty of excommunication, the 10 former nuns were expelled from consecrated life, which meant they were supposed to leave the monastery. However, they did not do so and began a legal battle to remain in the building.
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Spanish court rules in favor of Church in eviction lawsuit against schismatic nuns (By Walter Sánchez Silva, CNA)
