During the last few months, we had decided not to write a single line about the Belorado issue. Not due to a lack of information or disinterest, but rather a conscious decision: not to fuel an episode that from the beginning had too much of a stunt, too much unintentional comedy, and too much media bait.
Yesterday, the definitive eviction of the monastery took place. The case, in practical terms, was closed. A sad episode, yes, one that has caused evident damage to the image of contemplative life, but at least it had reached its end. It was the natural moment to lower the profile, close the chapter with sobriety, and allow silence to restore some dignity to a situation that for years has been treated like a comic-surrealist script straight out of José Luis Cuerda.
But after the eviction, several media outlets received a WeTransfer link from the archdiocese with photographs taken inside the convent. Among the distributed material were kitchen utensils, a pot with dried beans, pans with food remnants, dust accumulated in a corner, and a pixelated mouse. That was the material sent to the press as the informative epilogue to the entire conflict.
With all due personal respect for Archbishop Mario Iceta, the reality is that the management of this case has been a communication and pastoral failure right up to the end. The religious life has not been protected from public ridicule, the media tone has not been toned down when it was essential to do so, and when the case finally closes with the eviction, it is decided to prolong the narrative with a massive sending of morbid images to the press that add absolutely nothing.
The contrast with other more relevant situations, moreover, is almost offensive. A few months ago, one of the most important parish priests in that same archdiocese was arrested accused of deceiving minors to obtain nude photographs. A priest with responsibilities in camps where hundreds of children participated and whose trajectory prior to the police arrest included several moves between parishes in Burgos to different towns that warranted an explanation. A very serious matter, very ugly, that directly affects the trust of many families and which we are investigating in depth.
In that case, we received no WeTransfer. There were no photographs, no graphic dossier, no institutional communication aimed at reassuring the faithful or explaining what happened. There was silence. In contrast, for the Belorado episode—some misguided nuns—an extraordinary media coordination has been deployed that culminates with the sending of morbid images from inside the convent after the eviction. As if we hadn’t had enough spectacle already.
The Belorado matter deserved more prudence. What we have seen, instead, has been a show that for years has been accumulating unnecessary chapters. And the last one, unfortunately, has been clumsily written by the archdiocese itself.