Schism of the Poor Clares of Belorado: Surprise and concern of the Archbishop of Burgos, Spain

Mons. Mario Iceta, Archbishop of Burgos (Spain) and in whose jurisdiction is the monastery of the Poor Clares of Belorado and Orduña; He expressed his surprise and concern at the schism of these nuns and noted: “I don’t know if they realize the profound consequences” of their decision.

This was indicated by the Prelate on May 17, in dialogue with the program The Church Lantern on the Spanish network COPE, after the schismatic decision of the Poor Clares of Belorado to abandon the Catholic Church to place themselves under the authority of Pablo de Rojas, a false bishop excommunicated in 2019.

“I find myself worried about the situation, thinking about what has been generated in such a surprising way on Monday, although for a month I had some information that something was brewing and with interest in seeing what avenues of solution and dialogue ( there may be). I believe that these things are not done overnight,” said Bishop Iceta.

Regarding what surprised him the most, the prelate responded: “first of all, the secrecy with which all this has been proposed and that, indeed, when early on Monday morning, around 6 in the morning, I receive a WhatsApp of a priest telling me that these nuns are leaving the Catholic Church, I thought it was fake news.”

“After that first surprise and verifying with the vicar of the congregation itself, of the monastery itself, that it was like that, little by little we have learned news. First of all (they said) that it was something unanimous, and the next day a sister comes out.”

In fact, on May 16, Sister María Amparo left the convent and indicated that she left “above all, so as not to belong to this sect,” noting that before her departure she was “three days without Mass and without anything” and supervised : “I have suffered total surveillance so that I could not speak with the older sisters,” he denounced.

In the dialogue with The Church Lanternthe archbishop of Burgos commented that he was able to speak with the outgoing nun and highlighted that “it is clear that they did not want her to know very well what was happening and she found out on Sunday afternoon when Pablo de Rojas showed up.”

The prelate also said that recently a person wrote a letter in which he praised the “fervor” of the nuns during Holy Week, and that is why what has happened is even more surprising. “It is all absolutely strange and I don’t know if the sisters themselves realize the consequences,” lamented Bishop Iceta.

The schism of the Poor Clares of Belorado

On Monday, when they announced their departure from the Catholic Church, the Poor Clares of Belorado indicated in a letter and a declaration that they recognize “SS Pius XII as the last valid Supreme Pontiff,” a decision that is explained through an attached text entitled Catholic Manifesto of 70 pages in which it is stated that “the see of San Pedro is vacant and usurped.”

In that sense, the archbishop highlighted that, if for them “after Pius all the votes and all the legal questions. Therefore he means that they have not taken vows as nuns either.”

“When I saw on a television station that they were happy, content, well I am glad that they are well but I don’t know if they are really aware that this is not like changing your room or changing your habit or dress,” the prelate continued. .

“I don’t know if you realize the profound consequences of this step. and that is why my option or my opinion is that we should not rush, let this media tidal wave pass, let’s see if it is possible to establish a relationship with them and dialogue and look at these issues and give them some time to reconsider this situation that seems to me “so surprising and so strange,” said the archbishop of Burgos.

After pointing out that Sister Paz, the vicar, told him that the decision to separate from the Catholic Church was unanimous, Bishop Iceta indicated that, on the contrary, “the sister who left says that there was no chapter, there was no vote and therefore it is totally irregular” since “the capitular and voting mechanisms of the congregations” have not been respected.

Path of reconciliation for the Poor Clares of Belorado

A possible path of reconciliation for the Poor Clares, noted the Spanish prelate and doctor, involves “first a meeting and a reconsideration, and also listening to them how they got here. They express discontent, they express difficulties, things that they have not conveyed to the religious delegate” or to the chaplain.

Then it is necessary to listen to “what are the reasons for deep discomfort, because life is complicated, but to the point of saying I am abandoning the Catholic faith to embrace another type of ideology, it seems to me to be so extreme.”

This decision of the Poor Clares “seems absolutely wrong to me” but we must see “if it is possible to heal it, cure it, reverse it” and “give time for this to be done,” he stressed.

“It seems to me that a 90-something-year-old nun, after 70 years” of religious life, cannot be transferred “to another worldview of life.” To these sisters, the archbishop assured, it would be good to leave “the last years of her life in the Catholic Church.”