TWO former nuns have been arrested in northern Spain after priceless works of art from their rebel monastery were spotted on-sale in an antiques market.
Laura Garcia de Viedma and Sor Paloma, a former nun and abbess from the Santa Maria de Bretonera convent in Burgos, were arrested by officers from the Guardia Civil last week as part of an investigation into the sale of rare artefacts.
The dramatic detentions are the latest twist in the long-running saga of the so-called ‘rebel nuns of Belorado’, a breakaway religious community who hit the headlines last year after being formally excommunicated by the Vatican.
Furious at a row over blocked property sales and doctrinal conflict, the fiery sisters cut ties with the Catholic Church and placed themselves under the jurisdiction of Pablo de Rojas Sanchez-Franco, an excommunicated priest who presents himself as a bishop from the Pious Union of Saint Paul the Apostle.
The pair are now accused of flogging valuable items from the convent’s collection, including 17th-century religious sculptures and antique furnishings.
The alarm was first raised when a carved statue of Saint Anthony of Padua, believed to have originated from the monastery, surfaced in a specialist antiques shop.
READ MORE: HABIT WARS! Rebel nuns in Spain face holy eviction after convent coup
That discovery prompted the Guardia Civil to launch Operation Mirum-Cid – a probe into the disappearance and sale of artefacts linked to the convent.
Officers have raided the rebel convent and the Santa Clara monastery in Bizkaia, where some of the artefacts were allegedly transferred without authorisation, including sculptures, artwork and furniture.
An antiques dealer from Leon has also been arrested over the sales, accused of acting as a middleman for the illicit sales.
Authorities are pursuing charges of aggravated misappropriation and the illicit trafficking of protected cultural goods.
All three detainees have been released provisionally but the investigation continues.
In a statement, the Guardia Civil said: “As part of Operation Mirum-Cid, the Guardia Civil has arrested two former nuns and an antique dealer on suspicion of aggravated misappropriation of historical heritage assets and receiving stolen goods.
“Officers detected various catalogued works of art on the specialist antiques market that could correspond to the historical heritage of the monastery of Santa Maria de Bretonera (Belorado).
“As a result of this work, it was found that several historical pieces from Santa Maria de Bretorena had been sold online, and a 17th-century figure of Saint Anthony of Padua, also belonging to the monastery in Burgos, had been sold in an antique shop in Madrid.
“These works have been recovered by the Guardia Civil.”
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