The Sijena Sí Platform is collecting signatures to ask the Bishopric of Huesca to judicially claim the assets of its parishes of Peralta de Alcofea, El Tormillo and Berbegal, which are located in the Museum of Lleida, according to the group, without property title.
This is the front of the main altar of El Salvador de Berbegal, a Romanesque piece from the 13th century; the panels of Saint Peter and Saint Paul from the parish church of Peralta de Alcofea, from the 15th century and the Romanesque doorway of the church of El Tormillo (13th century), now in the church of Sant Martí in Lleida.
Five years after the departure of 44 pieces from the Lleida Museum originating from the Sijena Monastery, when the Civil Guard entered at dawn, executing a provisional court order, to transfer the works claimed by the Villanueva de Sijena City Council to the Huesca monastery and the Aragonese government, the platform sees in that process a formula to demand more works of art.
“The success of the judicial processes to recover the assets of Sijena and the bishopric of Barbastro-Monzón, which after almost three decades of struggle have achieved the return of most of their assets, points the way to undertaking new demands,” he argues. the platform. It also asks the Bishopric to begin the canonical claim process. In addition, it asks the City Councils and the Government of Aragon to support the judicial processes.
Juan Yzuel, coordinator of the Sijena Platform, assures that the group began collecting signatures last weekend at the Femoga livestock fair, in Sariñena, and has already collected nearly a thousand, upon “seeing that the Bishopric of Huesca is not moving.” .
Sijena Sí already organized a long march six years ago for the recovery of these assets and met with the bishop of Lleida, Salvador Giménez Valls.
This Thursday, the Museum of Lleida avoided evaluating the platform's request, arguing that it was unaware of the content of its proposal.
For its part, the Bishopric of Huesca, after learning about the platform's initiative, expressed that it renewed its desire "for these assets to return to their place of origin."
The Bishopric recalled that it made a consultation with the Vatican in 2021, when two routes were being proposed to claim the assets, civil and canonical, and specified “that no step has been taken.”
