Excommunicated nuns speak out in newspaper

Spies and heretics: Schism nuns attack Pope and Church

Belorado - The case of the schismatic nuns from Belorado in Spain has caused a worldwide stir. Now the nuns are making serious accusations against Pope Francis and the Catholic Church in a London newspaper.

Published  on 26.11.2024 at 11:44  – 

Lesbian nuns, prostitution, spies and heretics: it sounds like a thriller, but the nuns from Belorado, Spain, who were excommunicated by the Vatican, are defending themselves against accusations of prostitution and are making new ones - against the Pope and the Church. As the Spanish internet portal "Vida Nueva" reported on Sunday, the apostate nuns want to take their conflict to the extreme and internationalise it, which is why they opened their doors to the London newspaper "The Times" and answered its questions.

They claim that the Pope is a heretic and that the Church has failed to defend them against a rival neighbouring abbess who has called them "lesbians and prostitutes". They also accuse the Pope of having "set spies on her and tapped her mobile phones". In this context, the former abbess of the community, Isabel de la Trinidad, declared that they were still in conflict with the Vatican and "all hierarchical structures". However, she rejected the accusation of being heretical herself: "We are not heretics. Heretics make mistakes in doctrine, and what we say are all the Catholic truths of the last 2000 years". She also rejected the alleged accusation that the nuns are lesbians and have dedicated themselves to prostitution.

Belorado case came to a head

The case of the schismatic nuns is known worldwide and has come to a head in recent months. In mid-May, Abbess Isabel de la Trinidad, who has since been dismissed by the Vatican, caused a scandal when she renounced the Catholic Church on behalf of all the nuns in the convent. The Pope then appointed the Archbishop of Burgos, Mario Iceta, as a special investigator.

Schismatic bishops have joined the community in the past, most recently the Brazilian Rodrigo Henrique Ribeiro da Silva alongside Bishop de Rojas. Attempts at mediation by Archbishop Iceta, who had been appointed papal representative for the monastery by the Vatican, failed and the dispute over the monastery escalated.

A few weeks ago, the Spanish archbishopric of Burgos successfully sued for eviction. The competent court upheld the action and ordered the apostate nuns to leave the building. The judgement is not yet final. The convent is not the private property of the nuns, but belongs to the church. Attempts by the sisters to convert the convent into an association under civil law and thus retain control of the convent had previously failed. Not affected by the eviction are five elderly sisters in need of care who still live in the convent but were not excommunicated as they did not take part in the schism of the other sisters. The responsible order of Poor Clares has offered to look after the five sisters. (mtr)