The Court of the Rota of the Apostolic Nunciature has intervened to decide which of the virgins venerated by two Catholic brotherhoods is the patron saint of the Sevillian town of Carrión de los Céspedes (Spain).
The Virgin of Consolation or the Virgin of the Rosary? Which of them is the patron saint of this town of 2,600 inhabitants in the province of Seville?
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As explained recently the Brotherhood of the Most Holy Christ of the True Cross, Mary Most Holy of Solitude and Our Lady of Consolation, the Court of La Rota issued a resolution last July according to which “the patronage of the Virgin of Consolation over the town of Carrión de los Céspedes”.
According to the Code of Canon Lawthe Tribunal of the Rota “is the ordinary tribunal constituted by the Roman Pontiff to receive appeals.” It judges “in the second instance, cases decided by ordinary courts of first instance and that have been elevated to the Holy See by legitimate appeal.”
The ecclesiastical court would have thus rejected the claim of the Nuestra Señora del Rosario Brotherhood, who would have denounced an alleged documentary falsification that would allow it to reopen the dispute, more than thirty years after the last canonical pronouncement.
In the years 1987 and 1988, the Interdiocesan Court of Seville would have confirmed the patronage of the Virgin of Consolation, as defended by this brotherhood, to which the recent decision of the Rota would be added.
Furthermore, the defenders of the patronage of the Virgen de la Consolación explain that there is a new documentary expertise that ratifies a previous one and that would also conclude with the “undeniable veracity and authenticity of the documentation analyzed.”
This caused “the closing of the process by Mr. Archbishop Emeritus D. Juan José Asenjo Pelegrina in 2021, as there was no doubt about it.”
Response from the Rosario brotherhood
For its part, the Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Rosary responds in another statement that “the Rota Court has not issued any ruling on the matter”, but has only communicated “the non-admission to processing of the claim” presented in 2022 upon understanding “that the evidence was still indicative”.
Supporters of the patronage of the Virgen del Rosario maintain that the use of the title by the other corporation “is based on a transcription of the Rule Book of the True Cross, an original document that has never been presented to any of the courts.”
In addition, they emphasize that the Brotherhood of the Rosary has “a new, more forceful expertise” carried out by a calligraphic expert who would show “clear evidence of forging about the manipulation of the aforementioned Rules, specifically on pages 2 and 3 of the proem where it is named ‘Patronage’ to the Virgin of Consolation.”
Furthermore, they allege that the evidence used in 1987 “is based solely on certified photocopies and not on the direct examination of the authentic document” and that “the repeated refusal to allow access to the original documents” creates a situation of “procedural defenselessness” for them. .
Furthermore, they point out that they will take their claims “before the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature of Rome” and defend that they have been supporters of “a concord before the Archbishopric of Seville, which the Brotherhood of Consolation has always refused.”
This agreed solution was subject to the Brotherhood of the Rosary’s condition that the original Rule Book of the Brotherhood of Consolation be examined “by an independent expert.”
The processes are “private for third parties”
In response to questions from ACI Prensa to try to shed light on the controversy, the president of the Tribunal de la Rota in Madrid, the priest Carlos Morán, stated that “the Tribunal as such, and I as its Dean, cannot give information regarding of the matters we process and the sentences we pronounce.”
“The processes are public for the parties and private for third parties; This principle is what governs the court’s communications,” he added.
For its part, the Carrión de los Céspedes City Council, on your websiteincludes the celebration of local festivals in honor of the Virgin of Consolation and Our Lady of the Rosary, one in spring and another in autumn.
Nicholas de Cardenas
Born in 1980, I am a Spanish husband and father and journalist with more than 20 years of experience in print and digital media, specializing in sociopolitical and religious information. I have worked for more than 10 years in defense of human rights and have accreditations in Journalism and Comprehensive Communication. Since July 2022, I have been a correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in Spain, covering international events of the Catholic Church.