The court in Briviesca, in the northern Spanish province of Burgos, indicated July 31 that it had ruled in favor of an eviction suit against the Poor Clares of Belorado, who announced their break with the Catholic Church in May 2024.
The court judgment, which followed a July 29 trial, upheld an eviction claim brought by Archbishop Mario Iceta of Burgos in September 2024 and ordered the breakaway nuns to pay legal costs.
The nuns’ legal representatives have indicated they will appeal the ruling, which they must do within 20 days. The nuns have expressed hopes that they will not be evicted before the appeal is heard.
According to Spanish media, the nuns have not said whether they will abide by the final ruling or seek to offer resistance, indicating they will decide collectively as a community. If they refuse to leave, they could be forcibly removed by Spain’s Civil Guard.
The Vatican appointed Iceta as pontifical commissioner of the Poor Clares’ monasteries in Belorado, Orduña, and Derio in May 2024, after the nuns placed themselves under the jurisdiction of a self-proclaimed bishop who was excommunicated in 2019.
The court in Briviesca recognized Iceta as the legitimate major superior, administrator, and legal representative of the Monastery of St. Clare in Belorado.
The court ordered the breakaway nuns — who are famous in Spain for their confectionery, including chocolate truffles — to vacate the property with a warning of eviction if they did not do so voluntarily.
The ruling is a significant milestone in a dispute that erupted when 10 members of the Poor Clares community signed a 70-page “Catholic Manifesto” describing the post-Vatican II Catholic Church as illegitimate.
In June 2024, Iceta sent a decree of excommunication to the nuns who signed the document, after they declined to appear before a Church tribunal. Five other members of the community, who are reportedly elderly and in delicate health, did not incur excommunication because they did not endorse the schismatic declaration.
Schism is defined by canon law as the “refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.” The penalty attached to the canonical crime of schism is excommunication.
The excommunicated nuns refused to leave the Monastery of Belorado, arguing they were its rightful owners, prompting the Archdiocese of Burgos to take legal action.
Two previous hearings were suspended before the court in Briviesca finally heard the case July 29.
At the hearing, Iceta’s legal representative argued that the nuns who did not support the schismatic declaration constituted the authentic religious community of the Monastery of Belorado.
The representative said that Iceta, in his Vatican-appointed role as pontifical commissioner, was recognized as the community’s major superior in Spanish law.
While Iceta presented land ownership documents to the court supporting his claim, the court noted that the defendants had failed to demonstrate that they had any title justifying their continued use of the property.
A delegation of legal officials, law enforcement, and Church representatives reportedly visited the Monastery of Belorado and the Orduña monastery Aug. 1 to assess the health of five nuns, aged between 86 and 100, who did not support the schism.
The delegation reportedly offered the five elderly nuns transfers to other Poor Clare communities.