The Shrine of Torreciudad, located in Spain and managed since the 1960s by Opus Dei, is in the midst of a dispute between the Prelature and the local diocese of Barbastro-Monzón.
Newsroom ( 7/19/2023 8:56 AM , Gaudium Press ) The conflict came to a head last Monday, when the website of the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón, in Aragon, Spain, published the appointment of Fr. José Mairal Villellas, parish priest of Bolturina-Ubierg and judicial vicar of the diocese, rector of the Sanctuary of Torreciudad.
This is an unusual appointment, since, according to Opus Dei, the sanctuary is a temple of the Prelature, which has the legal status of an oratory of the Prelature, erected with the authorization of the Bishop of the diocese. Thus, Opus Dei points out that “it is not for the bishop to make this appointment”, but for the regional vicar of Opus Dei.
In turn, after many faithful reacted to the appointment of the new rector by Archbishop Pérez Pueyo, the diocese published a statement, clarifying that “in the case of Torreciudad, and to regularize its canonical situation with the diocese, the Prelature was asked to propose to this bishopric a list of three priests to make this appointment of rector (c. 557&1). As the months passed, and not having received this list after several requests, it was decided to appoint José Mairal, parish priest of Bolturina-Ubiergo, to whose parish the hermitage-sanctuary of Torreciudad belongs”.
In response, Opus Dei announced that the diocese and the Prelature began talks, more than a year ago, to prepare new statutes that would allow Torreciudad to become a diocesan shrine, and to establish a pastoral agreement with the diocese, “similar to the agreements that the Prelature of Opus Dei maintains for the pastoral care of numerous parishes and churches in Spain and in other countries.”
Indeed, the diocese and Opus Dei are negotiating the future of the place of worship, centered on three aspects: the redefinition of the legal status of Torreciudad, ownership of the original chapel and the image of the Virgin from the 11th century, and the canon that establishes an annual payment to the diocese under the lease agreement signed in 1962.
Although everyone knows it as a sanctuary, the new temple has been, since its inauguration in 1975, a “semi-private oratory”, comparable to that of a religious community’s chapel or a bishop’s private chapel. This is what Opus Dei said on Tuesday, in a press release published on its website: “It has the legal status of an oratory of the Prelature, and was built in its time, like all oratories in Opus Dei centers, with the permission of the Bishop of the diocese.”
In this way, being an oratory, the decision on the appointment of its rector rests with the Prelature and not with the bishop, a circumstance on which Opus Dei bases itself to consider invalid the appointment of Fr. Mairal Villellas.
The communiqué from the Prelature of Opus Dei concludes, stating that “it will study this matter carefully and in a spirit of ecclesial communion. Our will is to continue collaborating with the diocese in the evangelizing work carried out from Torreciudad, a place so dear to the faithful of Alto Aragon, and where every year thousands of people have an encounter with the Virgin, seek the Sacrament of Confession and approach Jesus inspired by the life and teachings of Saint Josemaría Escrivá.”
The sanctuary of Torreciudad is dedicated to the invocation of Our Lady of the Angels of Torreciudad, in northern Spain, and has as its center of devotion an 11th-century Romanesque image of the Virgin. It was inaugurated in 1975, with the special effort of the founder of Opus Dei, Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, who also thanked his parents for healing him when he was just two years old, before Our Lady of the Angels.
