A five-year dispute between the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón and Opus Dei over the Torreciudad shrine escalated this week when Bishop Ángel Pérez Pueyo said he would resign if the Vatican ruled against his plans for the site.
The conflict began in 2020, when the bishop sought to take control of the appointment of the shrine’s rector and reclaim the image of Our Lady of Torreciudad. Opus Dei has since refused to relinquish authority unless ordered to do so by the Holy See.
On 8 September, in a homily at Barbastro Cathedral, Bishop Pérez Pueyo warned that if the Vatican commissioner ruled against him, he could not accept it “without defiling and disgracing my old age”, and that he would follow the example of Eleazar in Scripture by resigning.
