The schismatic nuns of Belorado are fighting for ownership of their convent.
In a four-page statement, they reaffirm their claim to the monastery property, but are still not backing down from their schism.
The letter from Wednesday to Archbishop Mario Iceta, who has been appointed administrator of the monastery by Rome, was published by the sisters on their social media channels.
The sisters had decided "in an atmosphere of conflict and out of love for Catholic truth to separate from the Council Church".
They would now try to obtain a corporate form of civil law for their community.
At the same time, they emphasised that they were dependent on the monastery properties to which they laid claim for their livelihood and that they were not seeking personal enrichment.
They would not voluntarily comply with the archbishop's order to evacuate the convent: "In the current situation, we recognise no authority other than that of the courts to order our eviction."
The ten sisters emphasise that the Belorado convent has been registered in the land register as the property of the Poor Clares convent since 1969.
The community has also always operated there within the framework of its statutes and canon law and is registered in the state register of religious organisations.
The administrative commission appointed by Iceta, on the other hand, emphasised in a press release published on the same day that the monastery already has a legal form recognised by civil law, as the 1979 agreements between the Spanish state and the Holy See stipulate that ecclesiastical bodies also have legal personality under secular law.
Monastery assets are assets of the church
It is also not true that the monastery is the property of the ten excommunicated and dismissed from the order. from the order.
As they no longer belonged to the order, they also had no legal right to live in the convent.
Since the expulsion of the ten schismatic nuns, the monastic community has been formed by the remaining eight sisters who did not follow the path to schism.
According to church law, religious orders are public legal entities and their assets are therefore considered to be the property of the church, not its members.
The Administrative Commission also rejected accusations that it was using its access to the monastery's accounts to illegally put pressure on the sisters.
In fact, the commission is working with the Federation of Poor Clares to secure the monastery's liquidity and pay outstanding bills and salaries.
To do this, however, it is dependent on the co-operation of the excluded sisters, which has so far not been forthcoming.
At the beginning of the week, the schismatic sisters had asked the alleged bishop and the alleged priest belonging to his community to leave the convent.
The sisters had placed themselves under the jurisdiction of Bishop Pablo de Rojas in mid-Maya well-known sedisvacantist.
Whether he is actually a validly consecrated bishop is questionable.
Observers assume that the decision was made in order to protect the legal position of the nuns in view of the archbishop's announcement that the sisters would be evicted from the convent.