Authorities in Spain briefly detained two excommunicated nuns suspected of selling cultural relics belonging to a church and convent they refuse to leave. Referring to the court in Spain, the AFP reported about it on Friday. Last year, the nuns called Pope Francis a heretic in a manifesto, writes TASR.
These two women belong to a group of nine sedevacantist nuns from the Poor Clare order excommunicated from the church by the Vatican in 2024. Sedevacantists claim that since Pius XII. the papal chair is vacant because, according to them, its current holders have deviated from the Catholic faith.
However, even after the excommunication, the nuns continued to live in the monastery of Santa Clara de Belorado, located about 50 kilometers from the city of Burgos, although they the court ordered them to move out of this building. They appealed and their case is still being resolved.
Two of them – Laura García de Viedma and Sister Paloma – were detained on Thursday on suspicion of being involved in trading in religious objects originating from the monastery. The antiquarian who allegedly bought these items from them was also in custody. The Court of First Instance in the city of Briviesca ordered the provisional release of all three persons on Friday.
“We have committed no crime and have nothing to hide.” said one of the nuns in a video published on her account on the Instagram platform. The court’s announcement on Friday represents a new twist in the conflict between the excommunicated nuns and the Catholic Church, which is attracting the attention of the Spanish public. In the spring of 2024, the nuns published a manifesto in which they called Pope Francis a heretic and usurper of the See of Peter. At the same time, they complained about alleged persecution by the order’s leadership, which they said thwarted their plan to acquire another monastery in the Basque Country.
They also criticized the “doctrinal chaos” in the Vatican and declared that they would submit to excommunicated priest Pablo de Rojas Sánchez-Franco. This priest, the founder of the Pious Union of Saint Paul the Apostle, professes sedevacantism. In 2019, this priest was excommunicated from the Catholic Church by the Archbishop of Burgos.
