In a press release, the abbot general explains that he is applying canon law and that he is dismissing the six elderly nuns deemed recalcitrant from the abbey of Clairefontaine in Cordemoy. A bailiff was to tell them the bad news on Thursday.
This is yet another twist in this 6-year-old case. The sisters have ten days to appeal. If their lawyer, Maître Paul Muylaert, is to be believed, an appeal against this decision will be filed quickly.
We detail below the substance of the statement of the order which justifies its decision as well as the reaction of Me Muylaert.
“Stubborn Disobedience of the Sisters”
Here is that press release: “The Abbot General in his council, after having studied the file in its different aspects, including the human and fraternal aspect, found himself obliged to decide on their dismissal from the order. In addition, this decision has also motivated by a desire for fairness vis-à-vis the other nuns of Clairefontaine who, not without pain and suffering, obeyed the decision to close and, in accordance with their wishes, chose other monasteries in which they reside today.
The law of the Church (C. 686) in fact provides for the possibility of dismissal of a nun for serious causes, such as for example ‘obstinate disobedience to the legitimate prescriptions of superiors in serious matters. This having been established, the dismissal procedure, known to the six nuns, which involves reduction to the lay state, was therefore initiated by the current superiors on whom the nuns depend today. The two successive warnings (called monitions) provided for by the legislation of the Church were successively sent to each of the sisters asking them to join their chosen community. The six nuns exercised their right to object to the warnings, but none of them wished to leave the place where they still reside.”
“The commission tried to help the sisters move”
The statement continues by recalling the chronology of events: “After many reflections and consultations, including apostolic visits, in February 2017 the Holy See decided to close the Abbey of Clairefontaine. According to the constitutions of the order, a closing commission was appointed, charged , among other things, to take care of the nuns of the suppressed community. From 2017 until December of 2022, the commission tried to help the sisters to move to another community of the order. During the summer of 2022 , they chose to settle in the communities of Chimay and Soleilmont, a choice which they however did not implement.For three of them whose health is more fragile, places in a nursing home were found. But they did not go there. In the meantime, the Abbot General met them and, on this occasion, regretted the blunders in the communications with the authorities of the order, without however this harms the prospect of a procedure for returning the order to against them if they persevered in their will not to go to their new communities.”
“Surprised by the move of the lawyer to Rome”
The order recognizes the right of nuns to appeal: “As provided for in Church legislation, this decision may be appealed to the Congregation for Religious, which will then have to decide in the last instance on the legitimacy of the dismissal. In this regard, we have been surprised that the lawyer of the six sisters went to the prefect of the congregation to give him a file of defense of the sisters, even though the order which was to decide in the first instance should logically have been met first. as being in complete contradiction with the elementary rules of any judicial or canonical procedure. The order is aware of the painful situation of the sisters, as well as that of all the people who have accompanied and helped them for so many years. This decision dismissal from the order saddens us all, but it is the consequence of the radical choice that the six nuns made to remain in the monastery of Cordemoy. “
“This decision violates Canon 698”
Paul Muylaert, the lawyer for the six nuns of Cordemoy, recognizes that this decision taken by the order follows the normal canonical way. “We have ten days to appeal, but it is certain that we will very quickly contest this decision to laicize the sisters. This appeal is suspensive. We will surround ourselves with a specialist in Canon law.”
The lawyer continues: “This decision violates Canon 698 insofar as the sisters requested to present their defense before the supreme moderator, that is to say the abbot general. This right is for me seriously disregarded.”
Me Muylaert goes further. He explains that presenting a defense before an abbot general who has asked for forgiveness constitutes an untenable situation for the order which has no doubt, he says, “preferred the decision rather than facing the difficulty”.
“An incomprehensible and hasty decision”
The Board further recalls that “the monastery is the legal domicile of the sisters and, as such, protected by law. In addition, the Walloon decree prohibits any expulsion before the current March 15.”
The lawyer further emphasizes that the visit to Rome by the Belgian delegation on February 10 “did not constitute a canonical procedural step but a visit aimed at denouncing a serious injustice harming the Christian community through closure and the hope of finding a solution for the continuation of religious life within the monastery”.
Me Muylaert also specifies that the ASBL Abbey of Clairefontaine which owns the monastery, during its last board of directors (administrative body), supported the process of prosecution by a meeting with another religious community.
“We are therefore in the presence, he concludes, of an incomprehensible and hasty decision to literally prevent these steps in the interest of the Christian community.”