Bishop of Getafe Dissolves the Brothers of Merciful Love Following the Dissolution of the Women’s Branch

(ZENIT News / Getafe, España, 09.17.2026).- The Diocese of Getafe has ended the communal formation of the men seeking to establish the Hermanos del Amor Misericordioso as a religious family, moving each priest, deacon and seminarian into an individual process of vocational discernment after more than a year of canonical scrutiny surrounding the movement’s female branch.

The decision, announced September 15 by Bishop Ginés García Beltrán, stops short of declaring that the men have acted improperly or that their desire for religious life was illegitimate. But it effectively brings to an end the collective experiment that had been taking shape since 2008 and places responsibility for the future of each vocation directly with the individual and the Church authority responsible for his formation.

The change affects seven priests, five incardinated in Getafe and two temporarily incorporated under arrangements with their respective bishops, as well as two deacons and about 20 seminarians. Until now, they had lived together in a canonically established formation house. That house is now being dissolved.

The seminarians may remain in diocesan seminaries or enter an established religious institute or another form of consecrated life recognized by the Church. The priests and deacons already exercising ministry will continue their pastoral assignments while discerning individually whether and how they are called to religious life.

The diocese has also made clear that the decision does not amount to a negative judgment on their vocation. Rather, García Beltrán’s office says that each man should now determine personally the concrete form in which he might live the evangelical counsels, community life and a stable rule of life.

For the deacons preparing for priesthood, the announcement contains a further clarification: they will be ordained priests “at the appropriate time,” provided the requirements of canon law are fulfilled, and will receive corresponding pastoral assignments in the diocese. The bishop has also offered everyone involved continued human and pastoral accompaniment, including spaces for listening and support.

The immediate decision cannot be separated from the much more serious controversy surrounding the women whose spiritual and institutional history is closely connected with the group.

The Diocese of Getafe had accompanied the male community since 2008 with a view to its eventual recognition as a religious family. Its development was linked to the Hijas del Amor Misericordioso, a public association of the faithful founded in 1983 by Father Antonio Mansilla Casas and approved in 2007 by Cardinal Antonio María Rouco.

The women’s association came under canonical investigation after Church authorities received information in 2024 concerning events that could have constituted canonical offenses. The case was subsequently examined by the Tribunal of the Roman Rota. In July 2025, Cardinal José Cobo, Archbishop of Madrid, intervened in the association and appointed Sister Pilar Arroyo as extraordinary commissioner. A year later, Cobo decreed its canonical dissolution.

The scrutiny also reached the male branch, although through a different diocesan authority. Getafe reported in March 2026 that it had identified matters concerning the men that, while not considered canonically criminal, nevertheless required careful discernment. The diocese consequently suspended their ordinations while the situation was being examined.

The September decision represents a further institutional separation from the original model. Rather than simply continuing the men as a community while the wider controversy is resolved, Getafe has chosen to dismantle the common formation structure and return each vocation to an individually supervised path.

That distinction is important in canon law. A group of men living together while discerning a possible religious foundation is not automatically a religious institute. Establishing a recognized religious family requires the Church to examine its charism, governance, formation, communal life and suitability for the mission proposed. Ending an experimental formation arrangement therefore does not, by itself, constitute a declaration that every individual member has been found unsuitable for ministry or consecrated life.

Getafe itself is a relatively young diocese, established in 1991 after being separated from the Archdiocese of Madrid. It covers 48 municipalities in the southern part of the Madrid region and has around 1.7 million inhabitants and 127 parishes. Its seminary has recently reported 38 seminarians, a figure that Bishop García Beltrán has described as stable in a Spanish context marked by declining and increasingly concentrated vocations.

That context makes the episode particularly significant. The Church needs to accompany genuine vocations while also ensuring that formation communities are governed by structures capable of protecting candidates, exercising proper oversight and responding credibly when allegations arise. Those two responsibilities are not mutually exclusive.

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