Starting with a careful review of various periodical sources – official communications, public reports and informative chronicles – it is possible to reconstruct with sufficient precision the sequence of events that marked the most controversial assumption of the Valle de los Caídos.
Based on this chronology, it is possible to identify top hits, relevant statements and significant silence which configured the current institutional scenario.
At the penultimate plenary meeting of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, which began on March 31, 2025, the obbispos unanimously expressed their support for the cardinal’s work Jose Cobo Canomaster of Madrid, in his status as an intermediary between the Benedictine community and the government, to deal with the political and ideological significance of the valley.
The following months, a “note” signed by Cardinal Cobo at the Minister’s request was published in March last year. Bolaños. A document that stated that the dome, nave, atrium and vestibule were not places of worship and that the government could pursue a project to resignify some areas of the interior of the basilica, with the exception of the altar and adjacent banks.
However, by spreading the information, the bishops’ conference manifested itself in its last plenary assembly, which began on November 18, 2025, I completely missed the content and the lack of mediation.
“We did not participate as an invitation in stone” and “everything we want to know about this task, discuss directly with Cardinal Cob”, the general secretary and spokesman Monsignor declared publicly. Cesar García Magán.
The President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Luis Argüello, in a meeting with the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, in April 2024.
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The distance between the prior institutional response and the subsequent statement of rejection reveals a significant disconnect between effective mediation and effective knowledge of its terms.
Cardinal Cobo himself offered a compliment in this connection off the record On January 23, 2026, previously selected various media – which are contained, regardless, are known only a few days later -.
She confirmed that the government had given her the option to replace the Benedictine community and said she could not do so at this time, except that the economic conditions were comparable to those of the Augustinians of the El Escorial monastery.
In this case I also stated that there was jurisdiction over the basilica, a circumstance I knew from the beginning; que the course required monjes could paralyze the process of resignation; and that it was possible to come to an agreement with the government.
Regarding his relationship with the Benedictine community, he noted that relations were very good, that they were maintained in communion with the observer, and that there was an almost daily exchange of views.
Cardinal Cobo reiterated what he publicly expressed in an interview with COPE on 23 December 2025: that he considers his role as mediator essential and that in the future he will answer exclusively to the Holy See and the Benedictine community will resolve the issue with the government.
No embargo, in the mentioned price list off the recordconfirmed that Minister Bolaños and Cardinal Pietro Parolin they have different settings. And he suggested that any silence from the Secretary of State should be read as compliance.
“It can be deduced that the Benedictine community in Valle de los Caídos did not share or know the terms of the agreement that Cardinal Cobo signed with the government.”
“We’re talking to Parolin and Parolin isn’t saying anything, I want to decide what he’s sure of,” he stated pointedly.
The coexistence of both positions is no less. First, the public disconnection of the process. Furthermore, the implicit attribution of responsibility to parts of the Holy See through the silence of its State Secretariat.
The tension between the two affirmations is not rhetorical but institutional and contributes to explanation uncertainty that currently affects conflict management.
The Benedictine community maintained strict public silence at all times.
If you are aware of what has been done to the courts of justice through an article published in a newspaper La Razón on November 25, 2025. How to infer that the community no one shared or knew the terms of the agreement signed by Cardinal Cobo.
This article argued that the legal action was the result of a unilateral decision by the men, a circumstance that motivated an urgent meeting in Rome between Minister Bolaños and Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
The archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo.
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According to this information, the minister planned the eventual expulsion of the monks and openly showed himself in the presence of another religious community in the Valley. The continuation of the disputes places the judicial appeal as an inflection point, and it is clear that the dispute immediately takes on an international dimension.
See you again, in the diary El País On February 2, 2026, an article appeared that stated that:
“The paper of the EEC and the Archdiocese of Madrid, where the temple is located, was limited to mediating the conflict. The decision to withdraw depended on a direct agreement between the government and the Vatican, and the basilica is administered by the Benedictine order, with its own autonomy, which is not appropriate obedience to the directors only to your Pope or to any obispo.”
“The duty of prudence does not exclude the duty of transparency, especially when a succession of partial public statements has created an impression of opacity that does no one any good.”
This public formulation clearly defines the levels of responsibility and refutes a directly papal dimension – or tied to the authority of the abbot – for the eventual resolution of the conflict, either by agreement with the government or by jurisdictional means. At that time it subraya legal and ecclesiastical uniqueness of the Benedictine community.
But it is certain that in the midst of so much confusion and opacity, when between the liturgical celebrations the monks look for some feelings in search of an explanation, the answer – always calm and closed – is unchanging: “Recen and confíen en su Church”.
And if they ask you specifically about Cardinal Cobo, they will repeat that he is his shepherd and piden in areas that are limited and recent by him.
Before the controversy of this nature, which directly affects the sanctity of the papal and abbey basilica, whose sacred state and nature they seek to undermine; to the life of a monastic, peaceful and quiet community, the low threat of banishment does not yield to the demands of the government; You want to be properly informed and respected in the exercise of your religious freedom, it does not seem sufficient to you that a question which is indefinitely limited to higher circumstances without a clear explanation.
If Cardinal Cobo has indicated that he now answers to the Holy See and the Benedictine community to avoid the presumption, it would seem reasonable that another – or an ambassador – would offer a public, calm and documented disclosure of his position.
The duty of prudence does not exclude the duty of transparencyespecially when a succession of partial public statements has created an impression of opacity that does no one any good.
Clarifying why the ambiguity occurred is not a gesture of confrontation, but an act of ecclesiastical responsibility that strengthens community and preserves institutional credibility.
*** Ramón de Meer is a professor of Derecho philosophy.
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