The Court of First Instance and Preliminary Investigation No. 1 of Briviesca has admitted for processing the eviction lawsuit in precariousness filed by the archbishop of Burgos against the former nuns of the Monastery of Santa Clara de Belorado.who were excommunicated last June after their voluntary departure from the Church.
As reported by the Archbishopric in a press release, the court has given the following information ten days for the ex-religious to give a reply, and the court has givenThe Court also offers the possibility of holding a hearing on December 19, 2025, for the launching of the case, in case the defendant does not appear in due form, in accordance with the law. Also, according to the information provided by the Archbishopric, January 23, 2025 has been set as the date for the launching, in the event that the defendant does not appear in legal form.
In addition, it has entrusted the Civil Guard the task of identify the persons occupying the propertyin addition to the former nunsThe demand includes any person who, like the excommunicated, remains in the monastery without legal title or authorization.
However, it does not affect the five older nuns, who were not excommunicated considering that they did not take part in the religious schism, and that at present they constitute the monastic community of Belorado, in the eyes of the Archbishopric, and legally reside in the conventthey have pointed out. The decree of admission to proceedings, which has been communicated to the Archbishopric this Friday, also notes that the opposition of the defendant may be based exclusively on the existence of sufficient title to the plaintiff to possess the property or on the lack of title by the plaintiff.
The Archbishopric of Burgos has indicated that the Federation of Poor Clares of Our Lady of Aránzazu has made provision for the immediate care of the elderly sisters in the same monastery of Belorado, with the displacement of sisters coming from other monasteriesas long as the ex-religious do not impede their access.
Last Tuesday, through another communication, the Archbishopric already informed that due to the sick leave of the person who takes care of the elderly, they had hired a person for their care, but that when she went to the convent she was not allowed to enter.
The former nuns were waiting for the admission of the lawsuit.
The lawyer of the former nuns, Florentino Aláez, has explained that the lawsuit can be appealed and must be communicated one by one to those affected, something that, according to what he has stated, he is not aware that it has happened. Aláez has insisted that it is normal that the court has admitted to process the lawsuit, it is obliged unless there is a formal defect, but now opens a period of ten days – working days, he has clarified, so it becomes fifteen – for the ex-religious to respond.
This period will be calculated for each one of them once the decision has been notified, which could prolong the time of the procedure because they have to communicate it one by one, he insisted, and also there is the possibility of filing an appealThe lawyer therefore considers it “very risky” to talk of December 19 as the date for the hearing.
On the other hand, the press officer of the ex-religious, Francisco Canals, has assured that “they are optimistic”. and recalled that they expected this resolution because this type of lawsuits are admitted for processing, but this does not imply their immediate departure from the monastery, nor is it “a death sentence,” Canals said.
Six months since the crisis broke out
The former nuns of the Monastery of Santa Clara de Belorado, which includes the communities of Derio and Orduña, in Bizkaia, announced last May 13 with a Catholic manifesto and a letter their departure from the Catholic Church.
On May 29, the archbishop of Burgos, Mario Iceta, was appointed by the Holy See as pontifical commissary, with full economic, real estate and religious powers over the community, and sent ten of the fifteen nuns a letter asking them to appear before the ecclesiastical tribunal to ratify their departure one by one.
When this did not take place, on June 22, Iceta signed the decrees of excommunication against the ten nuns, and their expulsion from consecrated life, with a request to leave the monastery of Belorado, which has not been heeded for the moment. Last September 16, the Archbishop presented the demand for eviction against the ten ex-religious, two of whom have already left the convent for different reasons; with the admission for processing communicated this Friday, they have ten days to respond to the court.