They see demonic activity in the mysterious occurrences in a convent in Derio that has since been abandoned by the nuns, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
"There was something strange in this place, something disturbing," the newspaper quoted from a written statement by the Poor Clares.
According to the statement, the eerie occurrences began in 2017 in the Derio convent, which had been part of the Belorado monastery for several years at the time.
The Poor Clares living there wanted to transform the old monastery into a centre for pilgrims and tourists. After years of renovation work and a lack of success, the sisters living there were physically and mentally exhausted, according to the "New York Times" report.
At this time, they began to hear "inexplicable noises", the report continues. Things being dragged across the floor, crying children, dark laughter and the sound of footsteps were noticed by the nuns.
In addition, the lights had mysteriously switched on and off, door handles had moved and doors had opened, and objects such as scissors had moved of their own accord. The Poor Clares saw evil forces at work: "When you come face to face with the devil, you know who you're dealing with," Sister Paloma told the newspaper. "I was scared."
Mysterious incidents could not be confirmed
The nuns commissioned three priests to carry out exorcisms in the convent.
However, the unexplained phenomena continued.
The Poor Clares tried to save the convent by setting up a holiday flat in the building: "It worked really well," says Sister Paloma.
"We almost always had ratings of nine out of ten on booking.com." With the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, this economic basis for the convent was lost and the sisters living there moved back to the main convent in Belorado.
However, they attribute their departure to the supposed presence of evil in the convent in Derio.
Since then, the nuns have tried in vain to sell the convent.
Last but not least, the sale also failed due to a lack of ecclesiastical authorisation.
When asked by the Spanish news agency EFE, the Archbishop of Burgos, Mario Iceta, on whose territory the convent in Belorado is located and who was previously Bishop of Bilbao, where the convent in Derio is located, confirmed that several deliverance rituals had been carried out against the alleged demonic activity.
The investigations that took place at the time were unable to confirm the events.
The nuns were in a difficult situation and had already wanted to leave the convent at the time.
The Poor Clares told the New York Times that they were dissatisfied with the care provided by a priest from the Bilbao diocese at the time. He had celebrated "modernist" masses and talked about climate change in his sermons instead of looking after the nuns' souls.
In May, the Poor Clares of Belorado had joined a schismatic bishop and thus renounced the Catholic Church.
In the following months, they were excommunicated and placed under another schismatic bishop.
Another court hearing is scheduled for next week in a legal dispute over the eviction of the monastery.
The schismatic Poor Clares have declared that they do not want to leave the convent.