Bishop Sebastián Taltavull of Mallorca, 76, Spain, has got into a new row with the Hieronymite nuns of Sant Jeroni, in Palma.
The
Association of Friends of Sant Jeroni and the nuns had organised a
Christmas Vigil Eucharist on 24 December, followed by a meal for the
homeless, in collaboration with the Palma Town Hall and the Red Cross.
The event took place a few minutes before the Eucharist began at 12.30pm. The church was already packed.
The
lawyer Carlos Portalo, who was supposed to "welcome" the participants
at the beginning of the Novus Ordo Eucharist, went to the microphone and
told the stunned audience: "I have been called to tell you that this
church is not open for worship and that the Eucharist cannot be presided
over".
The event went on with the 'Sermó de la Calenda' (a
traditional Mallorcan Christmas sermon, usually delivered by a child at
the beginning of the midnight mass, telling the story of the birth of
Christ) and the performance of the Bar Association choir, but the
Eucharist did not take place.
The nuns and the bishop have been
in a legal dispute for years over the ownership of the Sant Jeroni de
Palma convent. The dispute has so far been resolved in favour of the
nuns.
The benefactors of the Friends of Sant Jeroni have sent a
letter to Monsignor Taltavull asking him to receive them and to explain
why he has stopped the Eucharist.
The last Eucharist in this
monastery was held on 12 September 2024. On 24 December, the doors were
reopened at the request of Mother Natividad, prioress of the convent and
federal superior of the Order of Saint Hieronymite, to preside at the
Eucharist, which was finally vetoed by the bishop.
La Cigüeña De
La Torre (InfoVaticana.com, 4 January) writes that in 26 days the
extension of Monsignor Taltavull's tenure will expire.
He quotes a local witness: "You can see that malice and above all jealousy are eating away at the bishop".
And:
"We know that Taltavull has and practices several capital sins; he is
vain, arrogant, proud, wrathful and extremely envious".
No wonder, then, that Francis kept him in office beyond the age of 75.
Picture: Convent de Sant Jeroni © wikicommons, CC BY-SA, #newsFndzgfizqk