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 calling out for criticism the 2018 rule established by Pope Francis according to which communities of women religious with less than five nuns must be dissolved, 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 Abbess 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 Consecrated 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.
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Grammar marm here: title – fewer than five nuns; article – less than five nuns.
One of these is incorrect. If you’re going to be wrong, at least be consistent.
And I’ll second the abbess’s protest.
CWR writes the title, I believe, and CNA writes the article.
Retired English teacher here. In case anyone’s wondering about the difference, if what you’re talking about can be counted, the correct word is “fewer,”; if not, “less.” E.g., fewer rainstorms, less rain. (Some of us might be old enough to recall the grammatical abomination of a certain toothpaste, which advertised, “Our group had 29% less cavities.” 😤)
What interest does the Vatican have in closure of convents when there’s an upsurge in women’s religious vocations? Since Pope Francis took the reins of Church governance he’s issued policies that are repressive to both male religious orders as well as female with greater emphasis of the latter. Does the contemplative life pose a threat to an endless talking, walking to nowhere Synodal Church?
Yes. Back in the hay day of Vatican-too-much, we called heteropraxy: Doo-Dooism. Liberal do-gooders always had to be doing something. St. Mother Teresa fought this with the Holy Hour. Pastoral heretics are allergic to prayer. Contemplatives bother the conscience of this pontificate.
Yes, of course. The focus of a contemplative life is Christ. The focus of ‘Synod of Synodality’ and similar verbal exercise is the Pope and whoever represents his ideas (facilitators etc.), not Christ. Since a contemplative life’s major aim is being with God NOW (like prophet Elijah was), ‘S of S’ pails into insignificance. God makes it such. Then it is legitimate to say that any decent contemplative life shows ‘S of S’ for what it really is.
While attending the local sessions of ‘S of S’ I noticed zero reference to Christ. When I spoke and referred to Him as the living Reference and a living Attachment, I sensed a wall. That was an unforgettable experience.
I conclude that contemplatives (which are not necessarily monastics only but all who are thirsty for being with Christ now, in this life) and those who are thirsty for ‘S of S’ have a different, perhaps contrary, system of coordinates. ‘S of S’ adepts got their starting and final points wrong, swapping a communion with God (and through Him with humans) with a communion with men. To close a monastery with less than five nuns means to discard all what is going on in the monastery i.e. communion with God, an attachment to God right now. Such communion is precious and sanctifies all around that monastery. But the ‘S of S’ bureaucrats are unlikely to understand that. All they see is “four nuns”. By the way, why four nuns are “too little” is beyond me. Zero is too little. As long as there is one nun, there is a light in the walls of the monastery.
One would think thst Jesus got it wrong when He told Martha that Mary had chosen the better part.
Brides of Christ are kicked out of their ancient homes to be consolidated into a few convents. Men, no.
The confiscated anssets are transferred to the balance sheets of diocese that need to pay victims of sexual abuse, the vast majority of which were committed by men on boys.
Umm…
https://www.barrons.com/news/spain-s-catholic-church-says-abuse-victim-fund-started-fda1d403
Women are generally easier to bully than men.
With the additional result that if they do start to oppose the bullies effectively, the bullies tend to become far angrier than they would, if they were men, due to the unexpectedness of the obstacle.
Brides of Christ are kicked out of their ancient homes to be consolidated into a few convents. Male religious are exempted.
The confiscated assets are transferred to the balance sheets of diocese that need to pay victims of sexual abuse, the vast majority of which were committed by men against boys.
Umm…
https://www.barrons.com/news/spain-s-catholic-church-says-abuse-victim-fund-started-fda1d403
Meiron above – Thanks for the explanation re grammatical inconsistency between title and article. (I’m slightly amused to see someone actually take up my complaint).