The Court of Briviesca has issued a sentence that fully upholds the lawsuit filed by the Pontifical Commissioner and orders the eviction of the schismatic ex-nuns from the monastery of Belorado. The resolution, notified on July 31 to the parties involved, recognizes the legitimate authority of the Commissary as Major Superior, administrator and legal representative of the monastery, and declares that the former nuns must leave the property immediately.
In its ruling, sentence 80/2025 declares "the eviction of the defendant to be admissible" and sentences the former nuns to "vacate and leave the property free and clear and at the disposal of the plaintiff, with a warning of eviction if they do not do so voluntarily".
The recent trial
The trial took place last July 29, after the suspension of two previous hearings. In it, the representation of the Pontifical Commissioner defended that the nuns who remained faithful to the Church constitute the only legitimate monastic community, and that the Commissioner, appointed by the Holy See, is their superior recognized both by the canon law and by the Spanish civil order. For their part, the former nuns exercised their right to defense, although their arguments were not supported by the court.
The judgment is clear in stating that the defendants "have not demonstrated, as was their responsibility, that they have any title that justifies and legitimizes the use of the property against its owner", while the Pontifical Commissioner provided registry and cadastral evidence to support his position.
The creation of a civil association
The ruling also refers to sentence 329/2025 of the High Court of Justice of Madrid, which rejected the registration of the new civil associations created by the former nuns after their break with the Church. That ruling upheld the legality of the administrative decisions that rejected the attempt to transform the monastery into an independent civil entity.
In addition, the court qualifies as invalid the so-called "conventual chapter" held by the former nuns on May 18, 2024, in which they declared the transformation of the monastery into a civil association. According to the judge, said meeting lacked "power, legitimacy and representation to convene and meet as such a conventual chapter", and its agreements are "null and void and cannot justify the right to continue occupying the Monastery".
The ruling also clarifies that religious freedom is recognized to individuals, not to legal entities, thus rejecting the argument of the former nuns who sought to continue occupying the building under that right.
The Office of the Pontifical Commissioner has expressed that this judicial decision fully supports the action of the Holy See in this case, and that the diocese will continue to act with "prudence, firmness and spirit of communion" in the recovery of the monastic complex.
