(ZENIT News / Madrid, 06.27.2025).- The future of Torreciudad, a monumental Marian shrine in northern Spain long associated with the Opus Dei prelature, remains in limbo as tensions persist from the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón against the Prelature. Recent media reports suggesting a resolution to the long-standing conflict have been flatly denied by Opus Dei’s Spanish communications office, which insists that no agreement has been reached and that all parties are still awaiting a formal decision from the Vatican-appointed Pontifical Commissioner, Monsignor Alejandro Arellano Cedillo.
Appointed by Pope Francis in late 2024, Monsignor Arellano, the Dean of the Roman Rota, was tasked with resolving a complex legal, canonical, and pastoral standoff that has been building since the Diocese attempted to terminate a decades-old legal agreement with Opus Dei over the management of the Torreciudad complex. His recent audience with Pope Leo XIV appears to confirm that the matter remains under close papal scrutiny.
The dispute erupted publicly in December 2022 when the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón declared the 1962 enfiteutic contract governing the site null and void, accusing Opus Dei of breaching its conditions. The Diocese demanded the return of key properties—most notably the image of Our Lady of Torreciudad—to their original location in the old hermitage, and indicated it would pursue legal restitution of the shrine, its guesthouse, and adjacent facilities unless an agreement was reached within six months.
Despite earlier efforts by Opus Dei in 2020 to reframe the complex as a diocesan sanctuary and regularize its status, negotiations faltered. In a dramatic break with precedent, the Diocese appointed a diocesan priest as rector in 2023—marking the first time in nearly 50 years that someone outside the Opus Dei structure held the position. The decision triggered further discord and ultimately led to legal action from the Diocese, which filed a conciliatory motion in civil court and threatened broader judicial claims if mediation failed.
As speculation mounted in late June 2025 regarding a supposed compromise—reportedly including a joint system for appointing the shrine’s rector and relocating the Marian image for certain feasts—Opus Dei moved swiftly to quash the rumors. “We are still awaiting the resolution to be proposed by the Pontifical Commissioner,” the prelature emphasized, signaling that no formal settlement has yet emerged from the Vatican.
The Diocese has remained publicly silent in recent days. However, Bishop Ángel Pérez-Pueyo made waves earlier this year with a pointed remark during an interview: “No institution—however numerous, prominent, or influential—can claim ownership over popular devotion.” The statement was widely interpreted as a direct rebuke of Opus Dei’s historical stewardship of Torreciudad, a shrine whose modern form was inspired and promoted by the Opus Dei founder, Saint Josemaría Escrivá.
This latest chapter in the Torreciudad saga underscores broader questions about ecclesial governance, property rights, and the interpretation of canon law in a post-Francis Church. While the sanctuary prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of its construction, its legal and spiritual future remains in the hands of Rome.
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