Carmelite friends of Pope Francis have to leave their convent in Spain

The community of barefoot Carmelites of the monastery of San José in Lucena (Córdoba, Spain), to whom Pope Francis sent several messages for their friendship with a former prioress, are forced to leave the place due to lack of vocations.

Mother Mary Magdalene of San Juan de la Cruz, prioress of the small community, explained in a statement that “with great pain and great regret, because there were only three nuns left, the scarcity of vocations and being requested by another Carmel in need, we saw will of God that our mission here had concluded”, as stated Church in Córdobaweekly newspaper of this Spanish diocese.

This concludes an uninterrupted presence of the Discalced Carmelites in Lucena for 412 years, where they arrived in 1612 from the city of Cabra, where the community was founded in 1603.

As detailed in the diary ABCthe death of the former prioress in September 2023, Mother Adriana of Jesus Crucified, left the community below the minimum of 5. However, she is granted a special status that was supported by Pope Francis and the Bishop of Córdoba, Mons. Demetrio Fernández.

With the recent departure of another sister, the future of the community was impossible. The three nuns will soon move to a community located in the Diocese of Salamanca to which they are united by a “long and close relationship of brotherhood.”

Link of this community with Pope Francis

This community of Discalced Carmelites became known in recent years due to the friendship that their then prioress, Mother Adriana of Jesus Crucified, maintained with Pope Francis, whom he met during his time as Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires. Two other Argentine nuns in the congregation had also had a relationship with him.

In January 2014, the message that the Pontiff left on the convent’s answering machine on December 31, a message to congratulate the community on the new year, emerged. Finally, he was able to talk for 15 minutes with the sisters, hours later.

It was also known in 2016 that Pope Francis had contacted the community again at the end of January. On that occasion, Pope Francis stated that “the devil enters through the pocket” in reference to the power of money.

As detailed Church in Córdobawhen the death of Mother Adriana was already imminent, Pope Francis “comforted the nun in her last moments of life” and, after her departure to the Father’s House, “he contacted the Monastery again to convey the condolences to the rest of the community of religious women.”