The decision of the community of Poor Clares of Belorado to abandon the Catholic Church within the framework of several open operations for the sale and purchase of convents could place the schismatic nuns in such an unprecedented scenario that it would place them in a complex situation. Ecclesiastical sources have shared with LA RAZÓN that, if their excommunication is ratified, they would cease to be Poor Clare nuns of the Catholic Church and, therefore, they could not be the owners of the building in which they reside. In this way, it could lead to the bizarre situation that the only legitimate owner of the building was Sister Amparo, the nun who left the community on Tuesday for not agreeing with the drift of her sisters. “If the departure of the rest of the Catholic Church is confirmed, Sister Amparo would be the only one who could be considered part of the Order of Poor Sisters of Santa Clara, if the institution appears as such as the owner of the premises,” states a canonist to LA RAZÓN. Along these same lines, he details that normally the convents are not in the name of the abbess or any member of the community, but of the entity. This freehand deduction could also affect the other two properties that are at the center of this crossroads: the convent of Orduña and the monastery of Derio.
In any case, this reflection on the true ecclesial “status” towards which the community of Belorado is rushing was already anticipated this Thursday by the bishop of Bilbao, Joseba Segura. “It is sad to think that women who have dedicated their entire lives and have received vows in a Church and who have also celebrated with priests of that Church suddenly make a decision that leaves them out of all that,” Segura pointed out. The prelate also noted that “these nuns have lived with Popes who now say they are not Popes, and who have ordained bishops who are not bishops, and who have ordained priests who, apparently, are not priests, but who have celebrated the Eucharist for them for years. “Suddenly all of that is invalid and even their religious vows that they gave before the authority of a Church that they now say has never been an authority remain a little up in the air,” he points out, adding that, therefore, “They would be like lay people, normal baptized people who are dressed as nuns, because they do not have the vows.”
Beyond this issue, yesterday the general secretary of the Spanish Episcopal Conference and auxiliary bishop of Toledo, César García Magán, regretted that the consecrated women of Belorado have taken this step, from the conviction that “perhaps there are non-positive influences there.” from third parties who have presented themselves in the area of the monastery. In the same way, he recalled about Pablo de Rojas, the founder of the so-called Pious Union of Saint Paul the Apostle, that “it is public and well-known that he is outside the Catholic Church” and that his group “is considered and cataloged by specialists as a sect.