In the heart of Castile, in the small town of Belorado, a group of Poor Clare nuns has become a symbol of resistance. Not against the modern world, but against the very conciliar ecclesiastical hierarchy. Claiming a break with post–Second Vatican Council Catholic principles, the nuns decided to sever ties with the diocese and remain faithful to the Church's tradition prior to the doctrinal revolution of the 1960s. The institutional response was brutal: frozen bank accounts, cut-off heating, summary excommunication, legal actions, and eviction attempts.
This conflict, far from being a mere administrative dispute, represents the apex of the “Conciliar Tragedy” (Lefebvre, 1991). The brutality of the diocesan response exposes the true nature of the post-conciliar Church, which, having made a pact with the principles of the Revolution—such as liberty, equality, and dialogue—paradoxically does not tolerate the existence of those who refuse to accept this “adulterous union” (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 8). What is observed in Belorado is the application of liberal logic: since Tradition is viewed as an obstacle to “progress” and “openness to the world,” it must be neutralized by any means, including the most coercive—revealing the tyrannical face of a system that presents itself as liberating.
The Abuses Perpetrated by the Diocese of Burgos
Shortly after declaring their break with the conciliar Church, the Poor Clares had their bank accounts frozen by the diocese, leaving them without access to basic resources for their survival and the operation of the monastery (Diario de Burgos, 2024).
During the harsh Castilian winter, the nuns were deprived of heating, even though several of the sisters are elderly. The act was interpreted by jurists and the faithful as a form of coercion (El Correo de Burgos, 2024).
The archdiocese filed a lawsuit for “unlawful occupation,” claiming the former nuns had lost the right to reside in the monastery. The judge granted the eviction, authorizing the use of force if they did not leave voluntarily (RTVE, 2025).
The nuns were deprived of all legal and patrimonial representation. The appointment of a pontifical commissioner by Rome worsened the climate of usurpation and absence of dialogue (Público, 2024).
Without individual canonical process or the right to defense, ten nuns were excommunicated on charges of schism for recognizing an authority distinct from the current ecclesiastical hierarchy (El Diario, 2024).
Five elderly sisters were targets of an attempted involuntary transfer, with support from the Civil Guard—an act interpreted as abduction by the remaining nuns (El País, 2025).
A Critique of Conciliar Authoritarian Logic
The case of Belorado reveals a troubling trend within the post-conciliar Church: the replacement of pastoral charity with juridical and patrimonial logic. Whereas the Church once promoted the protection of consciences in conflict with authority, it now seems willing to persecute, punish, and evict.
This replacement of charity with patrimonial logic is a clear symptom of the naturalism that has poisoned the Church (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 10). By adopting a worldview in which the temporal and juridical outweigh the supernatural, the conciliar hierarchy begins to act as a secular power. Its primary concern ceases to be the defense of the Faith and the salvation of souls, and instead becomes the preservation of a power structure and the management of material assets. It is the “society without God,” in which even the Church organizes itself according to principles that deny the primacy of the Social Kingship of Christ (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 39).
As journalist Fernando López stated in El Confidencial (2024), “the diocese seems more concerned with property ownership than with the salvation of souls.”
The tragic irony of this episode lies in the selective application of “religious freedom,” the great banner of Vatican II. This “new right,” conceived to guarantee the freedom of all religions—even false ones—before the State (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 40), becomes a weapon against Catholics themselves who refuse to adhere to the new orientation. The Conciliar Church, which demands “freedom for all” from the world, denies its own children the freedom to remain faithful to what the Church has always taught. This reveals the true nature of liberalism: “there is no freedom for the enemies of freedom,” with Catholic Tradition being, in this case, the main enemy of the liberal revolution within the Church (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 30).
Canonically speaking, the excommunication of the nuns violated canon 1321 §2, which requires full imputability and freedom in action. Likewise, the principle of epikeia - legitimate in decisions of conscience - was entirely disregarded.
Conscience Above Blind Obedience
The Poor Clares did not abandon the Catholic faith. What they rejected was a structure they consider deviated from Tradition, relying on the writings of theologians such as Archbishop Lefebvre, Cardinal Ottaviani, and other critics of Vatican II. Their gesture is radical, but not irrational.
The central issue is the nature of obedience and conscience. The liberal mindset that permeates the modern Church exalts a subjective conscience, placed above objective law and revealed truth. However, the conciliar hierarchy demands blind and unconditional obedience to its reforms, even when these contradict Tradition. The nuns of Belorado act according to a conscience formed by divine law and the unchanging doctrine of the Church, refusing to obey commands that, in their view, would lead them to participate in the “self-destruction of the Church” (Lefebvre, 1991, p. 137). Catholic obedience is not servility; it is subordinate to the Faith. When authority deviates from the Faith, resistance becomes a duty. Instead of dialoguing with charity, the Church responded with harshness, resembling the procedures of the Inquisition more than the meekness of Christ.
The Belorado case is a mirror of the modern Church’s crisis. Ecclesiastical authoritarianism, justified by obedience to “communion,” crosses moral and juridical boundaries. A Church that persecutes poor, elderly, and contemplative nuns for remaining faithful to traditional faith is, at the very least, in an identity crisis.
More than a crisis of identity, what manifests in Belorado is the final phase of the process described by the entire anti-liberal Magisterium: apostasy. A Church that adopts the principles of its enemies—liberalism, naturalism, subjectivism—will inevitably turn against itself and against the last bastions of the Faith. The authoritarianism shown by the Diocese of Burgos is not a deviation, but the logical consistency of a system that, having abandoned the Social Kingship of Christ, can no longer tolerate those who still proclaim it. The suffering of the Poor Clares of Belorado is, therefore, the living testimony of the “Conciliar Tragedy” and a sign that the fight for the true Faith continues—even if it means being persecuted by one’s own house.
References
Diario de Burgos. El Arzobispado intenta revertir la decisión de las clarisas. May 2024.
El Correo de Burgos. Belorado y Orduña: Las monjas cismáticas impiden la salida de cinco clarisas mayores. Aug. 2025.
RTVE. La jueza da la razón a la Iglesia y dicta el desahucio de las exmonjas de Belorado. Aug 1, 2025.
Público. La Iglesia se prepara para la resistencia de las exclarisas de Belorado. Jun. 2024.
El Diario. Iceta excomulga a diez monjas de Belorado por cisma. May 14, 2024.
El País. Las exmonjas de Belorado impiden que salgan de un convento vasco cinco compañeras ancianas. Aug 1, 2025.
El Confidencial. Monjas de Belorado: desahucio, arzobispado, Burgos. Sep. 17, 2024.
Code of Canon Law (1983), canons 1321, 1347, and 1371.
LEFEBVRE, Marcel. From Liberalism to Apostasy: The Conciliar Tragedy. Translated by Ildefonso Albano Filho. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Permanência, 1991.
LEFEBVRE, Marcel. Ils l’ont découronné. Editions Fideliter, 1987.
