The former nuns of Belorado reported to the Ertzaintza a series of acts of vandalism suffered in the monastery of Derio (Bizkaia), one of the three convents whose ownership is disputed with the Archbishopric of Burgos after their departure from the Catholic Church, after finding furniture, liturgical elements and works of art destroyed.
“They even made a small bonfire in the convent,” said spokesperson Francisco Canals, who also points out that the former nuns believe that, “due to the arrangement of liturgical objectives,” rituals of a satanic nature could have taken place.
The complaint was filed on November 20 and, in addition to the acts of vandalism, the former nuns consider it a hate crime because “they went to break the liturgical objects one by one” that they found, the spokesperson for the former nuns, Francisco Canals, explained to EFE.
He indicated that it was during a routine visit to the convent in the month of November, where they do not reside, since the religious community lives between Belorado (Burgos) and Orduña (Bizkaia), when they discovered the acts of vandalism, which they documented with videos and photographs before going to the Ertzaintza.
Canals explained that the ex-nuns believe that there were several entries, given that they detected different types of damage, and in the images provided to the media we can see forced windows and doors, broken locks, numerous destruction of furniture and dirt.
They also caused damage to paintings and sculptures, although Canals clarified that no works of great artistic value were kept in Derio, neither protected nor cataloged; and above all they denounce the attack on liturgical objects, which would be consistent with their hypothesis of a hate crime.
Francisco Canals acknowledged being concerned about what happened and recalled that the religious community is made up of 13 nuns (the five oldest, not excommunicated, and the eight schismatics), distributed between Belorado and Orduña, which makes it difficult to ensure the safety of Derio.
They also assured that they had never suffered an attack of this nature in this monastery, where they had not resided for years, so they suspect that this could be linked to the situation that the community is experiencing since its decision to leave the Catholic Church in May 2024.
The news comes after the Civil Guard, as part of an investigation into the sale of works of art, searched the monasteries of Belorado and Orduña – where they seized around thirty pieces – and arrested the former abbess and another former nun for the crime of misappropriation of goods of cultural interest.
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