Spanish Poor Clares’ eviction postponed to 3 October after appeal

The eviction of the former Poor Clares from their monastery in Belorado, northern Spain, which had been scheduled for 12 September, has been postponed following a new appeal lodged by the community. The eviction will now take place on 3 October.

The Catholic Herald has already reported on the ongoing battle between the Diocese of Burgos and the nuns, who left the structure of the Catholic Church last year in one of the most high-profile religious disputes in Spain in recent decades.

Related: Excommunicated Spanish nuns appear in court over eviction battle

Related: Bishop evicts sedevacantist Spanish nuns from their convent

The latest delay was welcomed by the community’s spokesman, Francisco Canals, who told Spanish press the decision was a “breathing space” for the sisters. He said they had been facing eviction within 24 hours, following a court ruling against them on 31 July. The postponement, he added, gave the women “at least 21 more days”.

The eviction date now falls on the eve of the feast of St Francis of Assisi, co-founder, with St Clare, of the order which the sisters left in 2023. Canals said the women were “happy and satisfied” with the outcome, while emphasising their determination to resist removal from the monastery where they have lived for decades.

“The nuns will continue because they are useful to society, they represent a value for Spain, and they are an example of collective leadership,” he said. “They have spent their entire lives in their own convent and will find solutions along a path that still has many challenges ahead.”

He added that the women “trust in divine justice: they know they are persecuted, but God helps them in a context where the best judge is time”.

The community, which once belonged to the Poor Clare order under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Burgos, broke communion with Rome in May 2023. The nuns accused the Church of betraying tradition and placed themselves under the authority of a sedevacantist bishop, later declared excommunicated by the Vatican.

The diocese subsequently launched legal action to reclaim the convent, arguing that the women no longer had the right to occupy it. In July, the courts ruled in favour of the diocese, authorising the eviction.

The nuns’ appeal has delayed enforcement, but diocesan authorities have insisted that the eviction will eventually proceed. Unless a new legal development intervenes, the sisters will be required to leave the monastery at 10 a.m. on 3 October.

(Photo by CESAR MANSO/AFP via Getty Images)