The Court of First Instance and Instruction number 1 of Briviesca has admitted to processing the eviction lawsuit in precarious conditions presented by the archbishop of Burgos against the former nuns of the Monstery of Santa Clara de Beloradowho were excommunicated last June after their voluntary departure from the Church.
As reported by the Archbishopric in a press release, the court has given ten days for the former religious to respondwhile offering the possibility of holding a hearing on December 19. January 23, 2025 is also set for the launch practice, in case the defendant does not appear legally, according to the information provided by the Archbishopric.
Furthermore, it has entrusted the Civil Guard the task of Identify the people who occupy the propertyin addition to their own ex-nunssince the demand includes any person who, like the excommunicated, remains in the monastery without legal title or authorization.
However, it does not affect the five older nuns, who were not excommunicated considering that they did not take part in the religious schism, and that they currently constitute the monastic community of Belorado, in the eyes of the Archbishopric, and They legally reside in the conventthey have pointed out. The decree of admission to processing, which was communicated to the Archbishopric this Friday, also indicates that the defendant’s opposition may be based exclusively on the existence of sufficient title to the plaintiff to possess the home or on the lack of title on the part of the plaintiff.
The Archbishopric of Burgos has indicated that the Federation of Poor Clares of Our Lady of Aránzazu has provided immediate attention to the older sisters in the same monastery of Belorado, with the displacement of sisters from other monasteriesas long as the former religious women do not prevent their access.
Last Tuesday, through another communication, the Archbishopric already reported that due to the sick leave from work of the person who cares for the older ones, it had hired a person to care for them, but that when he appeared at the convent was not allowed entry.
The ex-nuns were waiting for the lawsuit to be admitted
The lawyer for the former religious women, Florentino Aláez, has explained that the claim is appealable and it must be communicated one by one to those affected, something that, as he has stated, he has no evidence of happening. Aláez has insisted that it is normal for the court to have admitted the claim to processing, it is obliged unless there is a formal defect, but now a period of ten business days is open – business days, he has clarified, so they become fifteen. for the former religious to respond.
Period that will be computed for each of them once the decision is notified, which could prolong the procedure times since they have to communicate it one by one, he insisted, and also there is the possibility of filing an appealhence the lawyer considers it “very risky” to talk about December 19 as the date for the hearing.
For his part, the press chief of the former religious women, Francisco Canals, has assured that “they are optimistic” and he recalled that they were waiting for this resolution because these types of demands are accepted for processing, but this fact does not imply his immediate departure from the monastery, nor is it “a death sentence,” Canals said.
Six months since the crisis broke out
The former nuns of the Monastery of Santa Clara de Belorado, which includes the communities of Derio and Orduña, in Bizkaia, announced on May 13 with a Catholic manifesto and a letter his departure from the Catholic Church.
On May 29, the archbishop of Burgos, Mario Iceta, was appointed pontifical commissioner by the Holy See, with full economic, real estate and religious powers over the community, and he sent a letter to ten of the fifteen nuns asking them to appear before the ecclesiastical court. to ratify their departure one by one.
Since it did not occur, on June 22, Iceta signed the decrees of excommunication against the ten nuns, and their expulsion from consecrated life, with a request to abandon the monastery of Belorado, which has not been attended to for the moment. On September 16, the archbishop presented the eviction lawsuit against the ten former nuns, two of whom have already left the convent for different reasons; With the admission to processing communicated this Friday, they have ten days to respond to the court