The bizarre story of the nuns of the monasteries of Belorado (Burgos) and Orduña (Bizkaia) is taking on another dimension as more details are known about the story and, especially, about its protagonists. The Poor Clares wanted to send a message of tranquility yesterday, pointing out that they are not leaving the Church, although at the same time they appeared with one of the leaders of the Pious Union of Saint Paul the Apostle and left an intriguing message: “We will show you what “We have been discovering.”
The truth is that the desire to abandon the Church of Rome to embrace the doctrine of the Pious Union of Saint Paul the Apostle had been expressed by the nuns themselves in the extensive manifesto that they released a few days ago, so that qualification alluding to the fact that they did not abandoning the Church may have to do with the fact that for the Pious Union what they call the “conciliar” Church does not represent this institution, which, according to them, has not had a legitimate pope since Pius XII.
Not in vain, in the last few hours the alignment of these nuns with the Pious Union of Saint Paul the Apostle has been confirmed, which “pays obedience” to Pablo de Rojas Sánchez-Franco, an eccentric 42-year-old religious excommunicated five years ago by Mario Iceta, current archbishop of Burgos. Yesterday accompanied the Poor Clares, acting as spokesperson, José Ceacero, right-hand man of the false bishop De Rojas and known in the Bilbao night for having been, before donning the collar, a renowned bartender and cocktail maker.
In the last few hours, it has also been confirmed that behind this issue there is above all a communion of interests in which, on the one hand, a group of nuns who are angry with the archbishopric for blocking a real estate operation to buy the monastery of Orduña, having previously sold another property, and, on the other, a small group of people located around Pablo de Rojas, “three times the great of Spain” who lives to the fullest in Bilbao, and determined to proselytize his cause.
One issue cannot be understood without the other, although the father of one of the nuns, Julio Mateo, pointed out that “theological differences” have a lot of weight in the mess. At this point, we must take into account another of the protagonists of this story: the abbess Sister Isabel, who would exert a great influence on the rest. From the Pious Union they emphasize its distance from the Church of Rome on a theological level, although the Church’s version differs. “Sister Isabel wants to remain in power because her mandate is 12 years old and she cannot be there any longer,” they say from the diocese of Vitoria.
The Church also accuses him of “having deceived” the rest of the nuns to organize this schism and blames him for the fact that his rebellion is serving to propagate what they consider “a sect.” So far, only one of the nuns has abandoned the rebellion. The question is how far the rest will go in their fight against the Church and whether the institution could excommunicate them if they continue the line set by the false bishop and his acolytes.