The war for control of Torreciudad also reaches the documentation of the Episcopate. In an unusual press release, the Episcopal Conference has corrected itself just a week after publishing its report of activities to point out that among the 639 sanctuaries throughout Spain, «the new temple of Torreciudad has been erroneously included among them (Huesca), which until now is not such a sanctuary but rather a semi-public oratory. Thus, the communications office of the bishops claims to regret “the misunderstanding” to proceed “to correct the Report in the terms expressed”, which is why it presents a new document in PDF.
In this way, in the section dedicated to the sanctuaries, the total number drops from 639 to 638 and the explicit references to Torreciudad disappear in the brief list of these pilgrimage places, which is now reduced to Covadonga, Basilica del Pilar, Guadalupe, El Rocío, Montserrat, Caravaca de la Cruz, Loyola…” Likewise, the highlighting of the number of pilgrims that Torreciudad had in 2023, “around 200,000.”
However, the deletion of Torreciudad is not limited to this specific section dedicated to the sanctuaries, where the alleged error would apparently be located, but also practically all the photos of this pilgrimage site of the diocese of Barbastro-Monzón that had been used as a graphic resource in other sections. Thus, on page 89, in the annexes, the photograph of the esplanade and exterior of the new Torreciudad temple, built and financed by Opus Dei, has been replaced by a neutral image of the backlight of a tree, hit by the light of the Sun in the sunset.
More significant is the section dedicated to the laity, on pages 16 and 17, where the new edition of the Memory eliminates a photograph of the altar and altarpiece of the Torreciudad temple and replaces it with a larger one with a girl dressed for communion. However, Yes, one of a group of faithful remains greetingnot so identifiable with the place, but which shows in the background the Grado reservoir and the old hermitage of Torreciudad, whose management is now in conflict between the prelature of Opus Dei and the diocese of Barbastro Monzón. The only photo that the new version of the memory has preserved corresponds to an organized wedding meeting.
However, the “error” that the note that was made public this Monday makes in reference to is not typical of the 2023 activities report, which was presented last Tuesday, but Torreciudad has been included as a sanctuary since the year 2012 and all subsequent years. Eleven years in which no one seems to have noticed “the mistake”. Not even in last year’s publication, in which Torreciudad is also mentioned among the diocesan sanctuaries, no problem was raised despite the fact that when it was published the conflict between Opus Dei and the diocese of Barbastro-Monzón over the legal status was already open. of the place.
Only now, after the bishop of Barbastro-Monzón, Ángel Pérez Pueyo, broke off the negotiations and left the resolution of the conflict in the hands of the Pope – who has appointed a pontifical commissioner – does it seem to represent a setback that leads the Episcopal Conference to rectify itself herself in less than a week. Also The Holy See avoided referring to the place as a sanctuary in the appointment of the commissioner and used the term “complex.”
The discussion about whether Torreciudad is a sanctuary or not is purely technical, but it is at the origin of the conflict, since neither bishop nor prelature agree on the statutes. At a popular level, and according to the definition of the RAE – “temple in which the image or relic of a saint of special devotion is venerated” – Torreciudad has been traditionally known as a sanctuary. Even with the information provided by the Episcopal Conference’s own press release, taken from the Code of Canon Law, it is not clear whether or not it should be called a sanctuary.
On the one hand, they point out that “it is worth clarifying that, according to canon law, ‘the name of sanctuary is designated a church or other sacred place to which, for a peculiar reason of piety, numerous faithful go on pilgrimage, with the approval of the Ordinary of the place’ (CIC 1.230)». From that perspective, Torreciudad would meet the requirements of a sanctuary, since the ordinary of the place, in this case Bishop Ángel Pérez Pueyo, far from disapproving of pilgrimages, has favored them and he has even presided over several masses with the participation of faithful coming from various places, on the last occasion, this September in the celebration of the Marian day of the family.
However, the statement adds that “to show this consideration, ‘it is up to the local Ordinary to approve the statutes of a diocesan sanctuary; to the Episcopal Conference, those of a national sanctuary; and only to the Holy See those of an international sanctuary’ (CIC 1,232)”. It is from there that they conclude that “the use of The term ‘sanctuary’ in its traditional and popular meaning cannot be applied to the canonical qualification». When consulted by this newspaper, sources from the Episcopal Conference have not been able to specify how many of those 638 Spanish sanctuaries are diocesan, national or international.
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