Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

Usha Vance visits the 2025 Special Olympics Winter Games in Turin, Italy, on March 10, 2025. / Credit: Emily Higgins, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Mar 11, 2025 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

More than 1,500 athletes from 100 global delegations are competing in Turin, Italy, in the Special Olympics World Winter Games 2025, which runs from March 8–15. One of the largest inclusive sports events of the year, the games mark the first World Winter Games since 2017.

Eight sports are included in this year’s Special Olympics World Winter Games: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, dance sport, figure skating, floorball, short track speed skating, snowboarding, and snowshoeing. 

Under the theme of “The Strength of Kindness,” the opening ceremony took place on March 8 with four athletes carrying the Special Olympics flag into the arena: Luca De Pierie, snowboarder from Special Olympics Italy; Meena Almazrouei, snowboarder from Special Olympics United Arab Emirates; Shirnel Swarts, speed skater from Special Olympics South Africa; and Yueming Dong, cross country skier from Special Olympics China.

One notable figure in attendance was Usha Vance, wife of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who flew into Turin with the American delegation.

The Special Olympics Flame of Hope was brought into the arena by seven athletes, each representing one of the seven regions of the Special Olympics. The Flame of Hope was lit in a ceremony in Athens, Greece, on Feb. 25 and from there went on a journey, passing through several Italian cities before arriving at the opening ceremony in Turin.

Along its journey, the Flame of Hope made a stop at the Vatican, where it was blessed by Monsignor Orazio Pepe, secretary of the Fabric of St. Peter, the office that deals with renovations and monuments in the famous basilica.

During the opening ceremony, Tim Shriver, Special Olympics Board chairman, said: “These athletes want to change your life and make you more joyful, tougher, and more brave than you ever imagined. Let them rub off on you! They will not fail.”

Special Olympics Europe Eurasia Sargent Shriver Global Messenger Gilmour Borg added: “We will not leave these competitions just as athletes but as champions ready for the next challenge — to show everyone outside of Special Olympics that they should believe in us too.” 

In the United States, the Special Olympics World Winter Games can be watched on ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN3, and on ESPN Sports Center.

null / Credit: Drop of Light/Shutterstock

London, England, Mar 11, 2025 / 14:45 pm (CNA).

Leading pro-life campaigners in England and Wales have expressed alarm following reports that Westminster’s proposed “assisted dying” process might be outsourced to private companies.

Following a report in The Times that the U.K. government is considering contracting out assisted death to the private sector, should it become legal, a spokesperson for Right to Life UK said the plans were “a disaster waiting to happen.”

Members of Parliament (MPs) voted in favor of an assisted dying bill in November 2024 at its second reading, and the bill is now under the scrutiny of a parliamentary committee, which is examining how “assisted dying” might work in England and Wales.

The report in The Times stated that resorting to an arrangement with the private sector would be a means of easing pressure on the taxpayer-funded National Health Service (NHS), which has notoriously long waiting lists.

However, Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right to Life UK, said the move would be a mistake. “Introducing assisted suicide to the U.K. would be a disaster waiting to happen, made potentially even worse if outsourced to the private sector,” she said. 

“It could easily create a perverse incentive to push assisted suicide on patients where, in a specialized Dignitas-like service, an assisted suicide business seeks to assist in ending the lives of their clients as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to maximize profits,” she added.

Robinson continued: “Under such a system, the existing checks and safeguards will likely be increasingly viewed as an inconvenience and a barrier to business. The welfare of vulnerable patients will be especially at risk due to the profit motive.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference for England and Wales said: “We have consistently opposed the bill to legalize assisted suicide in principle. We encourage all Catholics in England and Wales to make their voices heard and contact their MPs to ask them to vote against it at third reading.”

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is expected to reach its next stage, known as the report stage, later in the spring and then MPs will be given a chance to vote again on the bill at third reading, having assessed the committee’s recommendations on the bill.

If it passes, the bill will then have to progress through the House of Lords before it can receive royal assent and become law.

The government health secretary, Wes Streeting, has made no secret of his concern that legalizing “assisted dying” would place too much pressure on the NHS.

“There would be resource implications for doing it. And those choices would come at the expense of other choices,” he told Times Radio in November 2024.

Maria Valtorta (1897–1961) was an Italian Catholic mystic who was bedridden for more than 30 years and claimed to have received visions and revelations from Jesus and the Virgin Mary, which she related in extensive writing. The Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said in a Feb. 22, 2025, press release that the messages contained in her writing “cannot be considered to be of supernatural origin.” / Credit: Public domain

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 6, 2025 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said that messages contained in the writings of Maria Valtorta (1897–1961), an Italian Catholic mystic, “cannot be considered to be of supernatural origin.”

In a press release dated Feb. 22, the Vatican dicastery noted that the Holy See “frequently receives requests from both clergy and laypeople for clarification on the Church’s position” regarding Valtorta’s writings.

The author, who remained bedridden for more than 30 years following an incident, claimed to have received visions and revelations from Jesus and the Virgin Mary, which she related in extensive writings about the life of Christ, including details that do not appear in the canonical Gospels.

Among her works, the most notable is “Il Poema dell’Uomo Dio” (“The Poem of the Man-God”), today known as “L’Evangelo Come Mi è Stato Rivelato” (“The Gospel as Revealed to Me”), which is 13,000 pages long.

Despite its international success and the support of Pope Pius XII, the work was included in the Index of Prohibited Books in 1959 along with other publications classified by the Catholic Church as heretical, immoral, or harmful to the faith. The index was abolished in 1966.

In this context, the Vatican reiterated that the alleged “visions,” “revelations,” and “messages” contained in Valtorta’s writings, or attributed to her, are simply “literary forms that the author used to narrate the life of Jesus Christ in her own way.”

To justify its position, the dicastery clarified that “in its long tradition, the Church does not accept as normative the Apocryphal Gospels and other similar texts since it does not recognize them as divinely inspired. Instead, the Church refers back to the sure reading of the inspired Gospels.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Ana Redondo, Spain’s minister of equality, is seen at the Spanish Congress of Deputies on Feb. 12, 2025. / Credit: Alberto Gardin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Madrid, Spain, Mar 5, 2025 / 16:40 pm (CNA).

Spain’s minister of equality, Ana Redondo, said at a press conference Wednesday that she is in favor of studying the inclusion of abortion as a right in the Spanish Constitution, as France did last year in its own constitution.

According to Infosalus, the health information portal of Europa Press, Redondo considered that such an inclusion would be “a good way to protect sexual and reproductive rights and, above all, the freedom of women.”

“It seems to me that this is a question that needs to be studied,” she said before adding that doing this involves an “enormously complex” procedure that would require sufficient consensus, and she doesn’t know if it exists “at this time.”

When asked about the law that considers abortion a right and classifies it as part of the services offered by the public health system, Redondo was open to “thinking about a constitutional reform when the appropriate and necessary conditions are met to be able to do so.”

March 4 marked one year since the French National Assembly by a vote of 780-72 made abortion a constitutional right.

On that occasion, the Pontifical Academy for Life issued a statement pointing out that “in the era of universal human rights, there can be no ‘right’ to eliminate a human life.”

The remarks by the minister for equality came shortly after the organizations that put on the March for Life in Spain, which takes place every year around the feast of the Annunciation, announced on their website that the next march will take place on Sunday, March 23.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

José Antonio Satué, bishop of Teruel and Albarracín in Spain. / Credit: Diocese of Teruel and Albarracín

Madrid, Spain, Mar 5, 2025 / 15:10 pm (CNA).

A former teacher at an Opus Dei school in Spain has been asked to leave the personal prelature after being found guilty following a second Vatican investigation of alleged sexual abuse that occurred at the school more than 15 years ago.

In what is know as the “Gaztelueta case” or the “Cuatrecasas case,” a complaint was filed against José María Martínez, a teacher at Gaztelueta School (an Opus Dei institution located in Lejona, Spain) for the alleged sexual abuse of student Juan Cuatrecasas between 2008 and 2010.

There was a canonical investigation into the case and Martínez was exonerated in October 2015. A Spanish court sentenced him to two years in prison after a long process that lasted from June 2015 to November 2020.

In June 2022, Cuatrecasas met Pope Francis at the recording of the Disney documentary “The Pope Answers,” which aired in April 2023. The pontiff then decided to reopen the case and appointed Bishop José Antonio Satué of the Diocese of Teruel and Albarracín in Spain as delegate (judge).

Satué informed Martínez, who maintains his innocence, on Monday, March 3, of his conviction in the sexual abuse case that calls for his departure from Opus Dei. 

As Martínez recounted on his blog, he was notified on March 3 of the sentence — which was signed Dec. 17, 2024 — with a note stating that he could not have been informed earlier because the bishop could not “free himself from other non-delegable and non-postponable obligations.”

Martínez also emphasized the fact that Satué announced the sentence on the day the prelate was summoned to appear before a judge in Pamplona to defend himself against a suit filed by Martínez for violating his right to a good reputation.

According to Martínez, the court appearance was postponed because the bishop “has not provided the documentation that was requested and other requested material is missing that the Church has never made public.”

According to a document dated Feb. 25 submitted to the court in charge of the case to which ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, has had access, the postponement of the hearing was made at the request of Martínez’s defense.

The request for postponement was made because the notary José Luis Perucha, who had in his possession the documentation provided by Satué, claimed “to not have the requested documents as documentary evidence.”

In addition, it is alleged that “the documentation requested from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has not been received” and that, at the time of submitting the document requesting postponement, Martínez had not been notified of the “conclusive decree of the administrative criminal process,” i.e., the sentence communicated on Monday.

Possible appeal to the Apostolic Signatura

Martínez announced that he is considering appealing the decision to the Apostolic Signatura, the only Vatican judicial body that, in his opinion, “can stop this nonsense.”

According to sources familiar with the case consulted by ACI Prensa, when the Vatican rejected Martínez’s defense’s request that Satué recuse himself from the case, they were told that when the sentence is eventually issued, if they contest it, they could turn to the Apostolic Signatura.

The same sources specified that the deadline to appeal to this court is 60 days from March 3, when the decree with the sentence was communicated.

Martínez reiterated his innocence and insisted on denouncing what he considers “irregularities of the canonical process”: being tried twice for the same crime “because the initial acquittal did not please the person who put together the ecclesiastical court”; that “legislation approved after the alleged events” was applied; that Satué would urge him to plead guilty in his first communication to him; or that “legislation that has not been applied to any layperson” was used.

“The whole process has been a shameful farce. There has never been the slightest possibility of defending myself,” Martínez said, having already written a letter expressing “great regret” in which he requested his departure from the institution founded by St. Josemaría Escrivá.

“I prefer to leave rather than be a problem,” he explained, while thanking the support received “from many people in Opus Dei, who know perfectly well that I am innocent” and emphasizing his adherence to the apostolate’s prelature: “In my conscience, [Opus Dei] will always be my spiritual family.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The flag of the European Union. / Credit: U. J. Alexander/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 4, 2025 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

In the context of the growing geopolitical complexity and uncertainty surrounding peace in Ukraine, the presidency of the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) issued a statement on Tuesday, March 4, expressing strong support for Ukraine.

The European Catholic bishops stated that “Ukraine’s struggle for peace will also be decisive for the fate of Europe and the world.” 

They also emphasized that “Ukraine’s struggle for peace and the defense of its territorial integrity is not only a fight for its own future. Its outcome will also be decisive for the fate of the entire European continent and of a free and democratic world.” 

In a geopolitical landscape that the bishops of the European Union described as “complex” and marked by “the unpredictability of the actions taken by some members of the international community,” the COMECE presidency urged the European Union and its member states “to remain united in their commitment to support Ukraine and its people.”

Ukraine must be included in the negotiations, bishops say

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law. The use of force to alter national borders and the atrocious acts committed against the civilian population are not only unjustifiable but demand a consequent pursuit of justice and accountability,” the bishops said.

The prelates also pointed out in their press release that a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine can only be achieved through negotiations, which must be supported by strong transatlantic and global solidarity, and include Ukraine.

They noted that “in order to be sustainable and just, a future peace accord must fully respect international law and be underpinned by effective security guarantees to prevent the conflict from re-erupting.”

In addition, COMECE urged the international community to “continue to assist Ukraine in the reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure” and specified that Russia “must adequately participate in this effort.”

The European bishops also emphasized that Ukraine is “the victim in this war and Russia the aggressor,” stressing that any attempt to distort the reality of this aggression must be “firmly rejected.”

Regarding Ukraine’s application to join the European Union and the internal reforms undertaken to achieve this goal, the European bishops urged the EU to “advance with the enlargement process in a timely and fair manner alongside other candidate countries.”

The statement concluded by expressing the hope that the European Union “will remain faithful to its vocation to be a promise of peace and an anchor of stability to its neighborhood and to the world,” particularly at a time when the contours of a new global security architecture are being redrawn.

The president of COMECE, Bishop Mariano Crociata of Italy, insisted on the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and warned against “a shameful spectacle” that falsely portrays the victim as the aggressor.

The response of the European bishops comes in the wake of the tense meeting on Feb. 28 between U.S. President Donald Trump and the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the Oval Office. During the televised meeting, Trump and Vice President JD Vance reproached Zelenskyy for his alleged refusal to cooperate in the efforts for peace and for even “playing with World War III.” Trump warned Zelenskyy that he would withdraw U.S. military support for Ukraine and on Tuesday the Trump administration put a temporary pause on the aid.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Alcide De Gasperi delivers a speech in Bologna, Italy, in 1951. / Credit: Democrazia Cristiana, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Madrid, Spain, Feb 28, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

The closing ceremony of the diocesan phase of the beatification process of Servant of God Alcide De Gasperi (1881–1954), an Italian politician recognized as one of the “fathers of Europe,” was held Friday at the Lateran Palace in Rome.

Along with the former French minister of foreign affairs, Robert Schuman, already declared venerable by Pope Francis, and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, after the Second World War De Gasperi was one of the promoters of the project for a united Europe, inspired by the values ​​of Christian humanism. He was a leading figure in the Christian Democratic Party in Italy.

The Christian roots of the European project

In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Father Manuel Barrios Prieto, secretary-general of the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), shared his enthusiasm by highlighting that two of the founders are in the process of canonization.

“De Gasperi was always a man of dialogue who also went through difficult times. I believe that this progress in his beatification process confirms that the roots of the European project are Christian roots,” he said.

The Spanish priest, who holds a doctorate in theology and a degree in clinical psychology, emphasized that “providence” allowed these three politicians to lay the foundations of a Europe “that respects human rights, promotes the dignity of the person and the sense of community, which was a fundamental theme for De Gasperi.”

For Barrios, the spiritual legacy of the Italian politician, who served as Italy’s prime minister from 1945 to 1953 — as already highlighted by Pope Pius XII and St. Paul VI — is based on the conviction that “politics is a high form of charity when it is carried out as a service,” a message that, according to the priest, “remains fundamental in today’s world.”

For the priest, who took office as COMECE’s secretary-general in 2019 and was reelected by the plenary assembly in 2023 for another four-year term, what makes a person holy is “living charity in a full sense.”

De Gasperi “worked to achieve the idea of ​​community and was truly an example of dialogue, even with his political adversaries, something for which he had to suffer,” he noted. In his opinion, the founders of the European project were inspired by the social doctrine of the Church, which influenced the first steps of a project that has now become the European Union.

The Italian politician “sought the common good of all: the dignity of the human being, the dignity of the family, and the dignity of the community but above all, the dignity of the human being as a fundamental principle of political action,” he said.

Although the Christian values ​​of the Europe that De Gasperi defended are sometimes not acknowledged or are not wanted, the priest said they continue to be the foundations of Europe. “What we as Christians must do is to promote them, especially in a difficult time like the present, when there are conflicts, a war in Europe, and geopolitical tensions,” he pointed out.

A common army for Europe

In the current European context, De Gasperi “would seek dialogue with everyone and the common good of Europe as well as unity in diversity,” Barrios said, emphasizing that “he was very committed to seeking a community of defense as well.”

“He wanted to promote a common defense, a common army for Europe, so that it could defend itself. The project ultimately failed, above all because France was not in favor, but it was something important to him. So, in the current context in which we live, with so many tensions, if he were alive, he would take it up again in some form.”

According to the priest, De Gasperi’s roots and culture, both Austrian and Italian, shaped his personality traits. He also stressed that the Italian politician was a family man “and truly a Christian with freedom of conscience.”

In 1932, when he was leader of the Italian Popular Party, he was arrested by the regime of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Although he was sentenced to four years in prison, thanks to the mediation of the Vatican he served 16 months. Barrios noted that the letters Gasperi wrote in prison, which in his opinion are “very inspiring,” will constitute a fundamental element for his beatification process.

Diocesan investigation

The closing rite took place the morning of Feb. 28 in the Lateran Apostolic Palace in Rome and was presided over by the vicar of Pope Francis for the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, who noted that for De Gasperi “Christian charity was a concrete virtue that should be embodied in political life.”

The diocesan inquiry was initiated by the ecclesiastical tribunal of the Archdiocese of Trento, Italy. The prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, after having obtained the consent of both the archbishop of Trento and Reina, has transmitted the rescript, granting the transfer of competence to the Diocese of Rome.

The tribunal that conducted the diocesan inquiry in Rome is composed of Monsignor Giuseppe D’ Alonzo, episcopal delegate; Andrea de Matteis, promoter of justice; and Marcelo Terramani, notary. The postulator of the cause of beatification and canonization is Dr. Paolo Vilotta.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Deir Mar Musa, also known as the Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian, is a centuries-old Christian monastery in al-Nabk north of Damascus, Syria. / Credit: LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

Madrid, Spain, Feb 28, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Trinitarian Order was established in the Middle Ages to free Christian captives held by Muslims during the Crusades. Today, in a context of “modern crusades,” where Islamic fundamentalism continues to persecute Christians for their faith, the Trinitarians remain a beacon of hope for those who remain firm in their commitment to Christ.

“Ocho Siglos Después” (“Eight Centuries Later”) is a documentary that gives a voice to this suffering and puts a face on forgotten Christians in places like Syria, Nigeria, or northern India but who are not losing hope thanks to the “silent” help offered by Trinitarian International Solidarity (SIT, by its Spanish acronym), a nongovernmental organization founded by the Trinitarian family 25 years ago.

The documentary by Fascina Producciones was screened Feb. 25 at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid by the vicar general of the order, Father Antonio Aurelio, and the film’s director, Alfredo Torrescalles. The event was moderated by Spanish television host Ana Rosa Quintana and was also attended by the apostolic nuncio to Spain, Archbishop Bernardito Auza.

Persecuted Christians in Syria, Nigeria, and India

The documentary captures the apocalyptic atmosphere that looms over the Syrian city of Aleppo, where a small group of Christians abandoned to their fate, most of them elderly, have been struggling every day to survive since the war broke out in 2011.

The support of the Trinitarians reaches every corner of these humble homes, located in desolate neighborhoods destroyed by bombs, thanks to the help of other “angels” who are on the ground, such as Father Hugo Alaniz of the Institute of the Incarnate Word.

A woman who has been bedridden for 13 years or a man who must raise his son with Down syndrome and who, clutching his little rosary, thanks God for his life, are some of those featured in the film, which first focuses on Syria.

In Nigeria, the devastating testimonies of the women who were able to escape the clutches of the terrorists of the jihadist group Boko Haram show how terror has been perpetuated in their communities and their hearts. These Christians find refuge and help in the midst of desperation thanks to the Catholic Church and the work of SIT.

From Africa, the documentary turns to northeastern India, where many young people are being forced to leave their homes as a result of clashes between the Hindu Meitei people and the Christian Kuki tribal people.

Trinitarians say the ethnic conflict has become a religious one and that the Christian community has no support from the government, which is determined to limit religious freedom and prohibit evangelization.

Aurelio emphasized that the documentary is not about the Trinitarians but about showing the reality faced by the people they help. “We are not altruists, we are Christians,” he said, noting that the Trinitarians are discreet and “work quietly.”

For Aurelio, “the help that can be given to persecuted Christians is very complex, because the problem these people have is not a matter of needing material aid but of their very existence. We want to inform people about their situation and their suffering, because what is not made known does not exist,” he emphasized.

“The message of this documentary is not for them, it is for us. They are Christians like us, why are they abandoned? Why aren’t we paying any attention to them? Why aren’t we helping them? Why aren’t we speaking publicly about this persecution? Why don’t we feel close to them? Our concrete objective as Trinitarians is for these people to not feel alone,” the vicar general of the Trinitarian Order underscored.

The documentary’s director, Alfredo Torrescalles, shared how much he was impacted by filming this documentary, especially in places like Syria. “I think the work that the Trinitarians do is essential, really shines, and is very necessary, but I fear that people will end up becoming desensitized to these tragedies. We have to make an effort to find a way to reach the population and touch their hearts,” he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis meets with the Spanish bishops at the Vatican on Nov. 28, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Madrid, Spain, Feb 27, 2025 / 17:50 pm (CNA).

The secretary-general and spokesman for the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE, by its Spanish acronym), Bishop Francisco César García Magán, expressed his conviction that the conditions for the resignation of Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized for 14 days due to health problems, have not been met.

Asked at the end of the meeting of the conference’s standing committee, García explained that the resignation of the pontiff is provided for in Canon 332.2 of the Code of Canon Law, with the only requirement that “it be free and be formally expressed.”

García also pointed out that it is public knowledge that in 2013, the year he became pope, Francis gave the then-Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, “a signed letter with his formal resignation in case of impediment.”

“I signed it and told him: ‘In case of impediment due to medical reasons or whatever, here is my resignation. You already have it.’ I don't know who Cardinal Bertone gave it to, but I gave it to him when he was secretary of state,” the pontiff revealed to the Spanish newspaper ABC in 2022.

The CEE spokesman pointed out in this regard that “these conditions are not being met because the impediment to which the pope was referring was when it is linked to a mental limitation, a mental impediment. What the pope has now are illnesses typical of age.”

“As he has said on occasion, the Church is not governed with the knees but with the head, with the help of the Holy Spirit,” added the prelate, who, after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, considered that, if Pope Francis made the same decision, “it would not be new.”

The bishops’ spokesman also stressed that “we are not in a pre-conclave period; far from it” and made an appeal to the people of God to “intensify prayer for the healing of this pope” and to do so “with affection and communion.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

null / Credit: Declausura Foundation

Madrid, Spain, Feb 26, 2025 / 18:07 pm (CNA).

The Poor Clare abbess of the Monastery of Santo Cristo de Balaguer in Lérida province in northeast Spain is criticizing a 2018 rule established by Pope Francis that dissolves communities of women religious with fewer than five nuns, a rule that does not apply to male communities.

Sister María Victoria Triviño, OSC, made her critique in an article published by the magazine Catalunya Cristiana regarding the recent closure of the Monastery of Santa María de Pedralbes in Barcelona that had been in existence for 700 years.

Asked about the reason for the closure, “which people, hurt and perplexed, address to some of the Poor Clares every day,” the nun explained that the Holy Father published the apostolic constitution Vultum Dei Quaerere in 2016 but emphasized that the document “did not affect monks.”

Similarly, regarding the Cor Orans instruction, published in 2018 to implement Vultum Dei Quaerere, the Poor Clare nun pointed out that “it affects women’s monasteries around the world, not men’s.”

This instruction establishes that “if a monastery has only five nuns, it loses its autonomy and must be affiliated with another monastery.” Furthermore, if it falls below that number, it must be abolished, according to Triviño.

In such a case, an apostolic visitor is appointed who, if he issues a negative report to the Roman Curia, “the transfer of the sisters is ordered” and the building is closed.

In the opinion of the abbess, this rule “which in normal circumstances may be opportune, in a difficult time of a vocations crisis, a crisis of values, economic crisis, etc., has had an effect of the confiscation of Church property by the Church itself.”

In her dissertation, the abbess noted that, just as the habit of the Poor Clares can be adapted “according to the cold regions” as stated in their rule, “each monastery acquires peculiarities ‘according to the region’ in which it lives.”

“If the closure of a monastery always means the loss of its production of liturgical items, of the intercessory influence on the city, the loss of a presence that bears witness [in an environment], so often secular, to the fact that ‘God exists and makes us happy,’ to all this we must add distinctive characteristics such as the artistic legacy, the cultural, musical, artisanal influence, etc. After all this, there will always be regret for desacralizing a sacred place,” she noted.

In this regard, the abbess also lamented the closure of other monasteries such as that of the Holy Trinity in Valencia (founded in 1242), the Monastery of St. Clare la Real in Toledo (founded in 1254), or the Monastery of St. Clare in Salamanca, founded by St. Clare of Assisi in 1238.

The abbess concluded that “much has already been lost. And only [by the intervention of] the Roman Dicastery for [Institutes of] Consecrated Life [and Societies of Apostolic Life] can we avoid further loss. How? By attenuating the instructions given for all women’s monasteries.”

In her opinion, it should be the nuns who “when the time comes, can take the options of continuing or closing according to their real situation, like men’s monasteries, for which no limits are set.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.