The transfer of the original statue of Our Lady of the Angels of Torreciudad to the old hermitage on September 5 had to be authorized by the pontifical plenipotentiary commissioner, Msgr. Alejandro Arellano, after the shrine’s officials conveyed to him the request made by the bishop of Barbastro-Monzón, Ángel Pérez Pueyo.
The new information, released on Thursday by Torreciudad, clarifies an issue that remained pending when the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón announced in mid-August that Pérez Pueyo had “ordered” the transfer of the image for the 47th Pilgrimage of the Virgins of Ribagorza and Sobrarbe.
Read also: The Virgin of Torreciudad will return to the old hermitage by order of the bishop of Barbastro
Torreciudad officials conveyed the request to Arellano
In the report published on August 14, the question of whether the episcopal decision had been agreed upon with Arellano—who was appointed by the Holy See as pontifical plenipotentiary commissioner to resolve the legal, canonical, and pastoral situation of Torreciudad—remained open.
The statement issued by the shrine now reveals how the transfer was ultimately processed.
“Wishing to respond to the request made by the bishop of Barbastro-Monzón that the Romanesque image might preside over the gathering in the hermitage, Torreciudad officials conveyed this proposal to the pontifical commissioner, Msgr. Alejandro Arellano, who has authorized the original statue to be taken to the hermitage and to remain there during the celebration,” Torreciudad explains.
The sequence described by the shrine itself thus distinguishes between the request made by Pérez Pueyo and the subsequent authorization granted by Arellano: it was Torreciudad’s officials who presented the bishop’s proposal to the pontifical commissioner, and Arellano who ultimately authorized the movement of the statue.
This clarification completes the information initially released by the diocese, which had presented the initiative as an episcopal order without specifying the necessary intervention of the pontifical commissioner.
The statue will remain in the hermitage during the gathering
The authorization granted by Arellano will allow the Romanesque statue to remain temporarily in the old hermitage during the September 5 gathering.
For the subsequent procession to the new shrine, however, the original image will not be moved. Torreciudad has specified that the pilgrim copy of the Virgin, prepared with the necessary anchors and elements for such transfers, will be used.
The procession will feature nearly 40 Marian titles and will conclude at the shrine, where the Eucharist will be celebrated at the main altar.
This temporary transfer takes place while the Holy See’s final decision on Torreciudad remains pending, including, among other matters, the future of the Romanesque statue itself, whose permanent location has been one of the points of contention between the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón and Opus Dei in recent years.