Spanish Bishop Threatens Resignation Over Virgin’s Place at Opus Dei Sanctuary

Bishop Ángel Javier Pérez Pueyo of Barbastro-Monzón, Spain, has said he would offer his resignation rather than sign a settlement under which the statue of Our Lady of the Angels of Torreciudad remains permanently at the Opus Dei sanctuary.

The bishop drew his red line in a public letter on 31 August, ahead of the image’s return to its ancient hermitage on 5 September for the 47th Pilgrimage of the Virgins of Ribagorza and Sobrarbe.

That return is temporary. It has been authorized by Archbishop Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, the pontifical commissioner for Torreciudad.

After the pilgrimage, the image is due to return to the sanctuary.

Bishop Pérez Pueyo’s threat concerns the final settlement: he refuses to accept an arrangement under which the statue remains there permanently and returns to the hermitage only on special occasions.

He would "never sign such an unlikely act of plundering your dignity," he wrote, adding he would instead offer his resignation.

The dispute has effectively been in Rome’s hands since October 2024, when Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Arellano, Dean of the Roman Rota, as Pontifical Commissioner Plenipotentiary for Torreciudad.

The commissioner has heard the parties and submitted his report, but Pope Leo XIV has not yet done anything.

The diocese says it does not seek control of the new church, its assets or finances. Bishop Pérez Pueyo has instead asked Leo XIV to make Torreciudad an international sanctuary directly dependent on the Holy See.

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