The Prelature responds to the measure with a statement in which he claims to have received the decision “with surprise” and emphasizes that “it is not up to the bishop to carry out this appointment as it is a temple of the Prelature.”
In the canonical legal field, Opus Dei files an appeal before the Holy See against the decision.
July 24, 2023: The Bishopric presents a “request for conciliation” before the Court of First Instance of Barbastro, against Opus Dei and the commercial entity Desarrollo Social, SA, which includes the formerly called Inmobiliaria General Castellana, SA
This request reiterates the same requests from the burofax of December 2022, stating that “successive meetings” have taken place in which numerous documents have been exchanged.
In the request for conciliation, the Bishopric indicated that “in the event that this act of conciliation ends without agreement, this party will proceed to judicially claim what was stated above, with everything else that is legally appropriate.”
This legal movement by the Bishopric would not be made public until months later.
August 20, 2023: The bishop defends the decision on the new rector on the day of the Virgin of Torreciudad, stating that they acted “always in a collegial manner, in accordance with the Law.” At the same time, he expressed: “Despite the media noise that tries to confront us and muddy the situation, from the Bishopric of Barbastro-Monzón you will always find an outstretched hand. We have always had the Prelature to help regulate the legal, canonical and pastoral situation as soon as possible.”
August 22, 2023: The Court of First Instance No. 2 of Barbastro issues a decree by which the conciliation request presented is admitted and an appearance is scheduled for the following October 3.
August 30, 2023: The Opus Dei sends a proposal to the Bishop with several options, of which only its constitution as a diocesan sanctuary has been made public. Opus Dei states that no written response has been received.
August 31, 2023: It’s a statement, The Bishopric affirms that the appointment of the diocesan rector “is limited to the pastoral dimension and will be valid temporarily, until the existing canonical situation is regularized.”
“A few hours ago we received from the Prelature of Opus Dei a proposal for an agreement on Torreciudad that the Bishopric will study with diligence and affection,” said the Bishopric.
September 12, 2023: In your letter Even if it hurts, published in the diocesan bulletin, the Bishop expresses: “We are open to the competent ecclesiastical authority resolving the situation if they are really not satisfied with the arguments presented.”
November 14, 2023: The court issues the summons so that the conciliation act can finally be held on December 20.
December 2, 2023: The Prelature receives a burofax in which it communicates the celebration of the conciliation act in the courts of Barbastro for the 20th of the same month. The document is dated November 14.
December 20, 2023: Opus Dei does not attend the conciliation ceremony. Sources from the Prelature detail that the decision was made when they understood that their presence meant accepting to some extent what was proposed by the Bishopric: recognizing the nullity of the emphyteutic census and returning the Virgin and the hermitage.
Specialized legal sources consulted by ACI Prensa explain that the conciliation act means that the parties meet in court and, if they reach an agreement, the judge ratifies it. In the event that there is no understanding, there are two options: go to trial by filing a lawsuit or give up the judicial process.
December 8, 2023: Mons. Pérez Pueyo explained during the Mass of the Immaculate Conception in Torreciudad that the place will become “a diocesan sanctuary when appropriate.”
What’s next in the disagreement between the Bishopric of Barbastro-Monzón and Opus Dei?
After the failed outcome of the conciliation act, it is worth asking: Will the Bishopric present a complaint and effectively take Opus Dei to court, as stated in the conciliation request?
The Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón has not explicitly said whether they will take this path. In statements to ACI Prensa, the Bishopric limits itself to rejecting that the ecclesiastical institution has judicialized the discrepancies:
“An act of conciliation does not in any case imply a complaint: it is a means provided by law to reach an agreement extrajudicially. For the case at hand, it represents the opportunity to address without burdens the open negotiation process, at the request of the Prelature of Opus Dei, to resolve the existing irregularities in the relationship between Torreciudad and the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón.”
According to the Bishopric, “the desire of the Diocese to bring positions closer together and reach an agreement has not been possible since Opus Dei did not appear.”
In 2025 It will be 50 years since the inauguration of the complex on the banks of the Grade I reservoir, in the Spanish pre-Pyrenees. It is still uncertain whether his legal situation will have been resolved by then.