Spain, fight between two dioceses over return of 112 works of art

A singular affair has occurred in the last few hours in Spain, where a real fight is underway between two dioceses whose object of contention is the restitution of more than a hundred works of art. In detail, the diocese of Barbastro-Monzón (which corresponds to the eastern part of the province of Huesca, in the region of Aragon) has filed a civil suit against the diocese of Lleida (which is located in Catalonia, on the other hand) and the Diocesan Museum of Lleida to demand the return of 112 works of art kept in the Catalan museum. According to the position of the diocese of Barbastro-Monzón, the problems go back to 1995, when the Vatican, in creating the very new diocese of Barbastro-Monzón, assigned to it 111 parishes that were previously under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Lleida. As a result, all the parishes began, from that date, to claim the works of art pertaining to them that were in the Lleida museum.

Thus began a process that gave reason to the claims of the new diocese, and in 2007 a ruling by the tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura established that the 112 works in question were not the property of the diocese of Lleida but were simply in storage in the Catalan museum, and thus imposed immediate restitution to the parishes that held ownership. The Lleida diocese filed numerous appeals (ruling, for example, that the judgments concerned only the ownership, and not the location of the goods), but found no acceptance. So it has come to the present day: the bishop of Barbastro-Monzón told El País, a daily newspaper that has been covering the matter, that the civil suit will be the “definitive step” and he hopes that “more than obtaining a ruling in favor, we will make sure that those already issued will be applied.” The idea of proceeding with the lawsuit came after the Diocese of Lleida acknowledged ownership of the 112 works, but said it could not return them because they are held by the Consorcio del Museo Comarcal, the entity that manages the Diocesan Museum of Lleida and which did not participate in the discussion tables between the two dioceses. It was then joined by the regional government of Aragon, which asked the diocese of Barbastro-Monzón to be allowed to enter the case: just in the past few hours, the Aragonese junta’s councillor for education, culture, and sports, Mayte Pérez, stated that the region will present itself “as an adjuvant in the process, because in any case we are not the owners of these properties,” and assured that however, “we will accompany the diocese in all matters for which it will find our help useful. They have opted for a civil appeal, but know that we are at their disposal.”

Pictured: the Diocesan Museum in Lleida. Ph. Credit Manuel Portero.

Spain, fight between two dioceses over return of 112 works of art

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