Spanish Belorado nuns excommunicated for rejecting Vatican Council reforms

Archbishop of Burgos Mario Iceta announced on Saturday the excommunication of a group of rebellious sisters from the Order of Poor Clares in the town of Belorado in northern Spain. The conflict between the Poor Clares and the archdiocese concerns, among other things, the nuns' refusal to recognize the decrees of the Second Vatican Council.

The archbishop's decision culminated in a conflict lasting more than a year between church authorities and the 10 nuns accused of schism, who refused to appear before the ecclesiastical court.

Archbishop Iceta explained that a decree expelling the sisters from the clerical state was issued along with the document confirming the excommunication. In light of these decisions, the archbishop emphasized that the Poor Clares would have to leave the monastery in Belorado and be replaced by other nuns.

Authorities of the Spanish archdiocese stated in a communiqué that the rebellious nuns' exclusion was due, among other things, to their refusal to recognize the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical court.

The conflict between the Poor Clares from Belorado and the local archdiocese involved, among other things, the management of church properties and the nuns' stance in rejecting the decrees of the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, which were introduced to reform and modernize the Church.

In May, the Poor Clares published their position on the conflict with the church authorities. In a document titled "Catholic Manifesto," they stated that they do not recognize the authority of the local bishop or Pope Francis. They consider Pope Pius XII, who died in 1958, to be the last legal leader of the Catholic Church.