The Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón has submitted a proposal to the Holy See regarding the Torreciudad complex. According to the organization, it is being built “in keeping with the history of our diocese, bathed in the blood of so many martyrs, already a small and humble people, but one aware of God’s caresses throughout its territory.”

Proposal on Torreciudad to the Holy See

The following points are included in the proposal:

▪ That Torreciudad, currently a semi-public oratory, be canonically recognized and established as an International Shrine, under the direct authority of the Holy See. We thus hope that the aspirations of the Prelature of Opus Dei to promote the Route of Saint Josemaría and the International Marian Route may become a reality, proposing that:

✓ The Holy See, as the competent authority, is the responsible and natural interlocutor (constituting itself as an extraterritorial sphere).

✓ Opus Dei may thus freely appoint, in accordance with the law, the rector of the new sanctuary.

▪ That the new international shrine enjoys financial independence from the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón and, as a dependent of the Holy See, the latter audits and approves its accounts, as well as those of the companies and foundations surrounding the complex, with the diocese renouncing any benefit or remuneration from them, as well as any patrimonial or other liability that may arise from the origin or future of the funds raised, and the corporate structures created to channel them.

About the original image of the Virgin of Our Lady of the Angels of Torreciudad and the primitive baptismal font of the cathedral

▪ That the original image of Our Lady of the Angels of Torreciudad and the original baptismal font from the cathedral of the Diocese of Barbastro—transferred to the General House of the Prelature in Rome—where so many martyrs of our Diocese were baptized, be returned to their original places where they have been venerated since time immemorial.

✓ In the case of the Virgin Mary, to her hermitage-shrine, where she has been venerated for over a thousand years by the diocesans, who throughout history have protected her even at the cost of their own lives in times of persecution and war. Within this deep-rooted popular devotion, St. Josemaría’s own parents took him as a child to visit the Virgin Mary in her original hermitage-shrine to pray for her healing. As is the usual practice in other shrines, the Virgin Mary would be venerated in her original location, and a faithful copy would be placed in the new shrine.

✓ Regarding the baptismal font, where so many of our martyrs currently undergoing beatification were baptized, may it be returned to the Cathedral Church, in the Chapel of the Pantocrator. Thus, the faithful of this Diocese will be able to continue bringing their children to receive the sacrament of baptism there, as St. Josemaría’s own parents did in that location and font.

✓ These restorations to their original locations, in addition to being an element of justice toward the faithful and communion between the Prelature of Opus Dei and the local Church, will enrich the Route of St. Josemaría in Barbastro (composed of the Church of St. Josemaría, the Entre Arcos Center, the House of St. Josemaría, the cathedral, the hermitage and sanctuary of Torreciudad).

“A diocese that does not divide, but unites”

This proposal, raised for the discernment of the Holy Father Leo XIV, aims to be “once again the expression of a diocese that does not divide, but unites; that does not demand, but offers; that does not impose, but lovingly proposes what it has received as a gift. Only through communion and selfless dedication can the spiritual legacy of so many martyrs and saints like Saint Josemaría continue to bear fruit: a legacy that, from Barbastro, continues to radiate light to the world,” they conclude.

Source: The Aragonese Crusader