Carmel Zweifall: The Old Liberal Church Strikes Mercilessly

Edit: It bears a faint resemblance to the film The Conflict.

The Diocese of Aachen seems resolved to put the Carmelites in their place.

Pre-Conciliar Carmelite in Her Cell

(kreuz.net) "This lightning has struck from the sunny sky" -- 'Aachen Zeitung' cited Sister Maria Regina (60) yesterday.

The nun was the Sub Prioress in the previous report on the Carmel in Zweifal.

Zweifall is the most southerly part of the north Westphalian city of Stolberg in the vicinity of Aachen.

Two Zweifall sisters have been opposing the decision by the Diocese of Aachen to close the Cloister.


The Long Arm of the Old Liberal Bishops

According to reports from the 'Aachener Zeitung' the official court of Aachen has put into immediate effect an Emergency Board Meeting for the incorporated society 'Carmelites of Stolberg'.


The Society is the occupant of the Carmel.

If the new board decides the Society's dissolution, then the ownership of the entire property will go to the Carmel at the Diocese of Aachen.

The court is basing its steps for the reason that the Society has been without a board sine the death of its Prioress Sister Maria Helene on 27. Juli 2006, and also without a legitimate representative.

The named emergency board are two Carmelites from Auderath and Düren.

Both Zweifall Sisters view them only as the "emissaries" of the Bishop.

They fear that they will have to leave the Cloister and that the property will be sold.

The Battle Lies Ahead

The Conflict surrounding the Carmel has been going since 2004.

On the one side are the Sisters and the circle of friends of the Carmel and on the other is the Old Liberal Diocese of Aachen.

In the past even the Police have sided with the Sisters after an emergency call from them.

The nuns felt threatened by the then Cathedral Rector, Herbert Hammans.

Johann Ehlen -- the speaker for the Circle of Friends -- feels pessimistic: "I fear this is the end of the Cloister."

The struggle is at least legally lost because all legal recourse has been exhausted.

Hhlen had hard words for the decadent Diocese: "Our ecclesiastical life will be destroyed. One pastor we haven't had since four years ago. Now they want to take our Cloister."

Still, the Sub Prioress still won't give up the struggle: "I will leave this Cloister in a Coffin."

Link to original... kreuz.net..