“They Are Our Possessions”: A Court Orders Rebel Nuns Out of a 15th-Century Convent They Say Is Theirs

• A court in Briviesca, Spain ordered nine nuns to leave their convent
• The Poor Clare nuns broke with the Vatican in May 2024
• The court found the Church had valid title and the nuns had none
• They face forced eviction if they do not leave voluntarily

A court in Briviesca, northern Spain, has ordered nine nuns of the Order of Saint Clare to vacate the 15th-century convent in Belorado where they have lived, in a dispute that turned on who holds the title deeds, the Jamaica Observer reported, citing AFP.

The nuns broke with the Vatican in May 2024, citing doctrinal differences and alleging that Church authorities had blocked their attempt to buy another convent. They then pledged loyalty to Pablo de Rojas Sánchez-Franco, an excommunicated ultra-conservative priest who leads a group called the Pious Union of Saint Paul the Apostle and who rejects the legitimacy of every pope since the death of Pius XII in 1958.

The court ruled that the Church had valid ownership documentation for the convent, while the nuns had presented no legal title. “If they do not comply voluntarily, they will be forcibly evicted,” the ruling said, though no date was set.

The sisters have insisted the property belongs to them. Sister Paloma argued that the convent “is ours”, adding: “We are not isolated nuns, we are a legal entity, and they are our possessions.”

The case is a sharp example of a problem churches everywhere face when a congregation splits: the people who worship in a building are not necessarily the people who own it. Years of residence, daily use and even maintenance count for little if the title sits with a diocese, a denomination or a trust.

Jamaica has seen its own versions of this, from breakaway congregations to disputes over church halls and manses. For church members, the lesson is to know exactly whose name is on the title and what the trust deed says before any dispute begins. For anyone buying or leasing former church property, it is a reminder that ownership must be checked at the registry, not assumed from who happens to be in possession.

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