Tug of War over Carmelite Monastery Continues

Edit: The Diocese already has a buyer.  Ka-ching... according to KATH.NET.


Zweifall (kath.net) The tug-of-war over the Carmelite monastery in Eifeldorf Zweifall in the Diocese of Aachen comes to a head. Two Nuns, Sister Katharina (46) und Sister Regina (60) still remain there and are resisting the plans of the Diocese to dissolve the monastery, now they can no longer have access to their bank account, as the newspaper "Bild" reported.

The Diocese has a Buyer

The Diocese has, since 2006, imposed an emergency board from the Monastic Association of Carmelites consisting of Sister Hildegard Grimme, the president of the Federation of Carmelites in Germany (Karmelitinnenkloster St. Josef in Auderath in der Eifel)and Sister Josua Maria Bubenikova (Karmelitinnenkloster von der Heiligen Familie in Düren).

Only in the accompaniment of Sister Hildegard, may the two Carmelites get any more money. "That is a degradation that we don't need", said Sister Katharina. "We can't get our money any more, so we can't use it to buy food, and can't pay any more bills," complained Sister Regina.

Both Sisters operate a bakery for hosts and sell about 80,000 hosts per week to over 200 parishes. The payments go into their account. They don't get any financial support either from the Diocese or the Order. After a rescission the property ownership falls to the Diocese, and according to media reports plans a sale. The Cloister Maria Königin [Mary the Queen] has been in existence since 1955 and sits on a height above the village of Zweifall in the Eifel Mountains.

The village people and the Friends Circle of the Cloister are furious: "This is like the Middle Ages," said Josef Ehlen of the Friends Circle. "The Bishop of Aachen wants to let the nuns die of starvation." The temporary solution: "every Sunday in our Holy Mass a collection is made by the people of the village for us. We are very frugal, and we can get by with that for the week", explained the Sisters.

"On the side of the order it is feared that a cloistered life according to the rule was not possible any longer", explained the speaker of the Diocese of Aachen regarding the plans of dissolution to the Hamburger Abendblatt. The Bishop has already filed the dissolution.

The Roman Monastic Congregation confirmed the dissolution in December 2005 and authorized the Diocese to direct it, and on 2007 the Apostolic Signatura, the highest Catholic Court, denied Sister Regina's complaint against the Monastery closure.

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