Sister Isabel de la Trinidad: The former abbess of the Belorado convent who broke with the Vatican complains towards the archbishop of Burgos | Society | EUROtoday

The former abbess of the group of Poor Clares of the monasteries of Belorado (Burgos) and Orduña (Bizkaia) – who on May 13 introduced their departure from the Catholic Church – has denounced the archbishop of Burgos, Mario Iceta, for abuse of energy, usurpation of authorized illustration and violation of the appropriate of affiliation. For its half, the Archbishopric of Burgos regretted this Thursday that the nuns have “closed the door to dialogue” with the criticism, which they’re ready to obtain.

The criticism was filed this Wednesday on the Logroño National Police station, as reported by José Ceacero, spokesperson for the Poor Clare nuns and member of the Pía Unión Sancti Pauli Apostoli, underneath whose guardianship the nuns have been positioned, in a public look. on the gates of the Belorado monastery.

The Higher Police Headquarters of La Rioja has already forwarded the criticism and the documentation introduced to the Provincial Police Station of Burgos, police sources have reported. Ceacero has indicated to the media that, with the appointment of Iceta as “pontifical commissioner” by the Holy See, the archbishop of Burgos has dedicated an abuse of energy and a usurpation of authorized illustration that, he has insisted, It corresponds to the mom abbess, Sister Isabel, who’s the one who filed the criticism in Logroño.

He has additionally assured {that a} violation of the basic proper of affiliation and the precept of free voluntary separation has been dedicated, because the nuns “voluntarily separated from a federation called the Catholic Confession” with the doc signed by their authorized consultant, Sister Isabel, on the thirteenth. of May.

Said separation was notified by way of burofax to Mario Iceta a day later, so, as soon as there was a voluntary separation, the sisters “are outside their jurisdiction” and “neither Iceta, nor Rome, nor anyone else can impose canon law because , in Spain, cannot be above civil law,” Ceacero insisted.

The spokesperson for the nuns, whom he serves as a spiritual guide and who is in the Belorado monastery together with Pablo de Rojas, founder of the Pía Unión, excommunicated in 2019, has insisted that the nuns are assisted by the Constitution, because “no confession or religion is above civil law,” and the right to free association.

He has pointed out that the monastery of Belorado and that of Derio are two legal entities with their own legal personality and with a legal representative, who is the abbess, who for the Archbishopric of Burgos no longer has that representation, since her mandate expired this 29 May and, now, it corresponds to Iceta by papal mandate.

“What Mr. Iceta has finished has been an usurpation sponsored from Rome, an usurpation of the authorized illustration of the authorized entities Monastery of Santa Clara de Belorado and Monastery of Santa Clara de Derio,” hence Ceacero has stated that everything announced this Wednesday has no value.

After Mario Iceta's press conference, the mother abbess accompanied by two nuns and Ceacero himself presented the complaint, which, as the latter explained, was made at the National Police station in Logroño because they were looking for a Civil Guard barracks. and they found no one to attend to them.

The property of the nuns

In response to questions from journalists, José Ceacero has assured that the monastery of Belorado, as well as that of Derio, are one hundred percent property of the religious community, which continues to exist although outside the Church and is now no longer under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of Burgos, so “he has nothing to say, give an opinion or ask” about the properties. “The nuns have one hundred percent property titles over the monastery,” he insisted, contrary to the explanations given this Wednesday by Iceta, who assured that once outside the Church those assets, which are Catholic, pass to the federation. of Poor Clare Sisters to which, until now, the nuns have belonged.

Ceacero, who has assured that they are going to stay in the monastery “so long as the mom abbess requires their providers”, despite the archbishop's order that they leave the building, has stated that Iceta is “complicated” people by trying apply canon law in a civil case, since now the community is no longer under its jurisdiction.

In this way, the nuns could dispose of their assets and, in the case of the monasteries, continue with the sale of Derio, for which they have a benefactor, but about whom Ceacero did not want to provide more information.

Regarding the possibility of the nuns receiving the archbishop, or some intermediary, as is the intention of Mario Iceta, so that they can personally express their will, Ceacero has asserted that they are not obliged, although “out of deference” they could want to speak with him, but for What they have told him “they don’t plan to obtain Iceta or any envoy.” Normality and happy.

Normal environment

The spokesperson has assured that, despite Iceta's statements and the complaint, the nuns are happy and that the atmosphere in the monastery is “fully regular”, since this same Thursday the Corpus Christi services were held. with solemn sung mass and procession with the Blessed Sacrament through the cloister. This has also been shown by the Pía Unión on its social networks, where they collect a video of the moment of religious celebration, officiated by Pablo de Rojas.

For its part, the Archbishopric of Burgos has sent a statement to the media in which it announces that when the complaint is received, the legal services of the religious institution will study it and make the decisions that are considered appropriate, since the Archbishopric has decided to leave the conflict in the hands of their lawyers.

“If this is the case, with this forceful gesture, we understand that the nuns close the door to any dialogue, referring everything to the field of justice,” indicated the Archbishopric, which regrets this place of the non secular group. And he has warned that the Catholic establishment will solely be capable to “act accordingly”, that’s, resort to the courts. In any case, sources from the Archbishopric of Burgos have defined that Mario Iceta has his hand prolonged to the Poor Clares in order that they rethink his place and reverse their resolution to depart the Catholic Church.